Epirus, a venture-backed startup offering a counter-drone capability, has made an undisclosed strategic supplier agreement with Northrop Grumman to provide exclusive access to Leonidas, Epirus’ software-defined electromagnetic pulse system, Epirus reported on Monday. 

“UAS threats are proliferating across the modern battlespace,” said Kenn Todorov, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Combat Systems and Mission Readiness division. “By integrating the Epirus EMP weapon system into our C-UAS portfolio, we continue maturing our robust, integrated, layered approach to addressing and defeating these evolving threats.”

Northrop Grumman will utilize Leonidas to augment its kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to counter small drones. The Army recently selected Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control software (FAAD-C2) as the interim C2 system to counter small drones. 

Epirus technology will integrate solid-state commercial semiconductor technology. The company’s offering can be adjusted to sanitize a volume of terrain or sky, creating a force field effect. Epirus systems will combine high-power microwave technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced targeting.

“We’re not just solving today’s swarm threat, we’re also looking to the future to understand how asymmetric threats will evolve,” Epirus co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) Bo Marr. “Epirus is an agile startup, Northrop Grumman has defense prime contractor resources, and through this partnership we intend to deliver the best technology to the warfighter as fast as possible.”

Epirus has continued to receive recognition for the company’s innovative technology. In Sept. 2020, Epirus won a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center as part of its AFWERX technology accelerator. 

The contract was for the Epirus’ novel architecture for using commercial off-the-shelf field programmable gate arrays, which are semiconductor devices commonly used in electronic circuits, as ultra-wideband radio frequency transceivers.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an American global aerospace and defense technology company. With over 85,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military technology providers.

The U.S. Space Force and the U.K. defense ministry have carried out a demonstration of the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) over the U.K. government’s Skynet satellite system, the Air Force reported Friday.

The July 13 demonstration conducted using a multiband test terminal as part of the Protected Anti-jam Tactical SATCOM program showcased PTW’s anti-jam capability and data rates.

The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Development Corps oversees on behalf of the Space Force the PATS program, which seeks to provide anti-jam capability to the U.S. and international partner countries using PTW over multiple satellite platforms.

The Space Force is collaborating with other international allies to look for opportunities to integrate national satellite communications capabilities with PATS. The U.K. defense ministry’s Skynet delivers strategic communications services to the British armed forces and NATO troops involved in coalition tasks.

The Department of Energy (DoE) has completed the development of cooling equipment designed for exascale-class supercomputers.

The Exascale Class Computer Cooling Equipment Project reached the Critical Decision-4 milestone in May and was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at Los Alamos National Laboratory, DOE said the same day. The project concluded 10 months earlier than scheduled with $20 million saved.

“High-performance computing continues to be key to the future of our science-based stockpile stewardship program, and completing this project ahead of schedule allows the enterprise to keep moving forward towards its next milestones,” said Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration.

The resulting cooler technology will help LANL reduce the heat of exascale computers in the laboratory's strategic computing complex and the upcoming Crossroads supercomputer.

NASA has moved the James Webb Space Telescope's launch date from March 2021 to Oct. 31, 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The space agency said Friday it based this decision on a risk assessment of the program's remaining pre-launch activities.

"The team continues to be focused on reaching milestones and arriving at the technical solutions that will see us through to this new launch date next year," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

Impacts related to safety, workforce, shift disruptions and various technical matters contributed to the launch's delay. Northrop Grumman continues to perform tests as the program's prime contractor. NASA intends to keep costs within the $8.8 billion budget as activities continue.

The observatory is set to undergo environmental tests before its shipment to the French Guiana-based launch site. James Webb Space Telescope will use infrared technology to help scientists further study the formation of planets.

The U.S. Air Force held a ceremony to recognize a KC-10 Extender refueling aircraft decommissioned from operational service. The ceremony took place at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and honored the tanker's three decades of USAF service, USAF Expeditionary Center said Tuesday.

USAF's 305th and 514th Air Mobility Wings retired the first of 59 KC-10 aircraft scheduled for replacement. The service branch plans to have the newer KC-46A Pegasus succeed KC-10.

“Today, we solemnly, and with an immense amount of pride, say ‘farewell’ to the first KC-10 in the McGuire fleet to make its journey to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group – more commonly known as the ‘Boneyard,’” said Col. Scott Wiederholt, commander of the 305th Air Mobility Wing.

Retired KC-10 units will provide spare parts for Extender units still being operated. McDonnell Douglas, a Boeing legacy company, manufactured KC-10 aircraft.