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Mike hosts Andy Lowery to dig deep into directed energy weapons—specifically high-power microwave (HPM) systems.

Andy is the CEO of Epirus, a venture-backed defense tech startup inverting the cost equation of drone defense and swarm protection.

The Army is currently in a rapid buy-and-try phase of these counter-UAS (CUAS) systems and is sending them to the Middle East. The systems have a host of other applications, though—the Navy is experimenting with them to disable boat motors, and the Air Force is also interested.

This episode is a defense tech episode you don’t want to miss!

For those interested in #military #nationaldefense #warfare #nationalsecurity #defense #nationaldefense #tech #technology #defensetech #army #navy #airforce #drone #drones #swarm #HPM #DEW #microwave #directedenergy

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• ⁠Andy Lowery (LinkedIn)⁠

• Epirus

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Show Notes

(00:47) Intro

(01:36) Epirus

(02:11) the “prime problem”

(02:43) 3 disruptions in modern warfare

(07:07) asymmetric advantage and cost imposition

(09:57) inverting the equation

(11:40) $1 billion in weapons

(11:59) Congressional hearing

(12:32) microwaves

(14:53) name origins

(17:04) serial killer vs mass murderer

(17:46) Star Trek

(18:26) Leonidas

(18:46) wicked fast tech development

(19:42) speed of technology

(20:19) inventory investment

(20:29) needs vs requirements

(22:02) Andy’s 3 careers

(29:19) product vs services

(24:32) 80/20 business model

(25:08) Thor HPM

(25:25) old school HPM

(26:03) new way of HPM

(26:20) like the next-gen jammer

(27:06) like an AESA radar

(27:32) GaN-based AESA

(30:09) designed to adapt

(31:02) how HPM actually works

(34:07) like radar jamming techniques

(35:13) YouTube video controversy

(35:58) copper tape vs HPM myth

(37:20) faraday cage concept

(38:41) copper tape studies

(40:10) a systems approach

(41:32) ballistic missile defense (BMD)

(41:57) Army IFPC program

(43:26) Army base defense charter

(43:50) SHORAD

(44:21) scenarios

(44:48) layers of SHORAD

(45:49) Anduril Industries

(46:12) layered defense problem

(46:41) GWOT killed SHORAD

(47:08) Syria and Jordan

(47:58) company culture

(49:33) government pain points

(49:59) export restrictions

(50:35) the “MRAP response” way

(51:26) 1990 policy blocker

(51:56) The FAA

(52:03) NOARD issue

(52:33) homeland defense issue

(53:45) pre-mortem

(54:43) team-of-teams approach

(56:43) the government’s budgeting problem

(58:55) boats!

(1:00:00) HPM vs other electronics

(1:02:18) airborne HPM?

(1:04:06) Epirus, the next few years

(1:06:04) factory and scale

(1:08:37) outro