Epirus delivers last two IFPC high-power microwave prototypes to Army

Epirus has delivered the last two Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC)-high power microwave (HPM) systems to the Army, and the systems have completed new equipment training and engineering developmental testing, the company announced today.

The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office awarded Epirus a $66 million contract in 2023 to develop IFPC-HPM prototypes, with the first of four being delivered to the Army last November.

Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said in a statement today that by March, all four systems had been delivered to the Army. Engineering developmental testing was conducted in April to determine the systems’ effectiveness against swarms of unmanned systems, “utilizing a range of increasingly complex flight patterns.”

Data collected during the test will inform Army Test and Evaluation Command’s test report for the program, which will have an impact on “follow-on programming, budget and operation utilization of the counter-drone solution,” according to the company.

Lowery told Inside Defense in an interview this week that the testing went well and served as an important “proof of concept,” but said he can’t discuss details about the test results until the test report is released this summer. Soldiers from Air Defense Artillery 51 participated in the test, he said.

“We’re not out there ready to go deploy today to [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command], but we were proving a concept for the very first time where we had real ADA soldiers. Not us doing it and soldiers standing behind us or something,” he said.

Lowery said the biggest challenge when it comes to HPM is rapidly integrating the system into a short-range air complex.

“You have to rapidly integrate it and ensure that you’re coordinated with [Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control] or whatever the C2 system of choice is,” he said.