Epirus today released video footage of the company’s Leonidas VehicleKit (VK) high-power microwave (HPM) platform successfully disabling a fiber-optic guided unmanned aerial system (UAS) during a December 2025 live-fire technology demonstration at a U.S. government testing site. The event marks the first known instance of electromagnetic interference being weaponized to defeat a fiber-optic guided drone.
Fiber-optic first person view (FPV) drones have emerged as a game-changing tactic in contested environments, particularly in Ukraine, where they are employed daily for one-way attacks and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Unlike conventional UAS that rely on radio frequency (RF) links for pilot control, fiber-optic guided FPV drones connect to their pilots via spools of long, thin, fiber-optic cable. These fiber-optic guided FPV drones operate without an RF command-and-control link, rendering them immune to jamming, spoofing and other legacy EW counter-UAS measures.
The Leonidas HPM platform defeats fiber-optic guided drones by delivering precise, software-defined weaponized electromagnetic interference to induce full kill within critical onboard electronics rather than relying on kinetic destruction or RF disruption. The Leonidas HPM platform utilizes non-ionizing radiation, making it inherently safe for humans when used as intended and its software-defined, highly directional phased array antennas focus energy on identified target areas only. Its near-instantaneous effects enable operators to influence the target’s drop zone to minimize collateral damage.
Market forecast by Regions, Platform, System, Integration, and Lifecycle Phase. Country Analysis, Market and Technology Overview, Critical Raw Materials, Opportunity Analysis, and Leading Company Profiles
Download free sample pages More informationUkrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has publicly stated that Russian forces are now fielding fiber-optic FPV drones with 31 miles of range and that these drones represent “a very considerable threat to logistics and personnel.” An August 2025 U.S. Army analysis of fiber-optic FPV drones similarly concluded that these drones “pos[e] a significant counter-UAS challenge” and are “extremely difficult to detect and target.”
“The proliferation of fiber-optic guided UAS represents a major shift in drone warfare and exposes a growing operational gap for counter-UAS defenses — one that Leonidas is designed to address and close,” said Andy Lowery, Epirus CEO. “Leonidas’ ability to defeat this new class of threat represents an important breakthrough in safe, non-kinetic defense against emerging drone tactics and reinforces Epirus’ leadership in scalable, one-to-many counter-UAS platform development.”
