Epirus announced that it has delivered the final two of four total IFPC-HPM systems to the U.S. Army and successfully completed both NET (New Equipment Training) and EDT (Engineering Developmental Testing) with the U.S. Army – key milestones on the path to issuing the HPM systems to an operational unit. IFPC stands for Indirect Fire Protection Capability and HPM stands for High Power Microwave.
"We delivered our first IFPC-HPM system to RCCTO in November 2023, just nine months after our initial contract award, and finalized delivery of all four systems this March," said Andy Lowery, Chief Executive Officer, Epirus. "Completion of NET and EDT puts the U.S. Army closer to fielding HPM operationally."
EDT was conducted throughout April to assess the military utility and effectiveness of the IFPC-HPM system against UAS and UAS swarms utilizing a range of increasingly complex flight patterns. EDT was also an opportunity for the soldiers from the unit that will eventually take possession of the systems to operate this capability following the NET they completed at their home station in March.
Data collected during EDT will inform the Army Test and Evaluation Command's test report for IFPC-HPM, which will be used by the Department of Defense to inform follow-on programming, budget, and operational utilization of the counter-drone solution.
"I'm thrilled with the effectiveness of our HPM systems throughout the test. We were able to demonstrate effects that we haven't done in this close to a real-world environment, including coordinated fires for additional range and advanced waveforms for greater effectivity," said Lowery. "We learned a lot about the importance of each system within the system-of-systems approach that will inform capabilities, limitations and requirements. Most importantly, we've demonstrated that our HPM systems are effective for the counter-drone and counter-swarm mission as a final protective fires solution within a layered defense."
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