Epirus, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Kodiak AI have unveiled the Leonidas Autonomous Ground Vehicle, the first time a directed-energy counter-drone system has been integrated with full autonomous driving. The vehicle pairs Epirus' Leonidas high-power microwave (HPM) platform — a software-defined, GaN-based phased-array system that fries drone electronics mid-flight — with Kodiak's autonomous driving stack on a commercial truck chassis.
The operational model is genuinely new. The Leonidas AGV can drive itself to a pre-planned intercept point, maneuver across a perimeter without a crew, and engage individual drones, swarms, or fiber-optic-controlled drones that defeat traditional jamming. Operators can also teleoperate it remotely. For homeland security, point defense, and expeditionary missions, that means a counter-UAS asset that doesn't burn human bodies on a static guard post.
The targeting story matters. Fiber-optic drones — the kind that have dominated Ukraine's front lines — are immune to RF jamming because they're not radio-controlled. HPM is one of the few approaches that defeats them, because it disables the drone's onboard electronics directly rather than interfering with its control link. Epirus demonstrated the first directed-energy takedown of a fiber-optic drone in January 2026; the AGV operationalizes that capability on a mobile, autonomous platform.
The partnership is also a signal. Kodiak's prior work has been heavy-truck logistics autonomy; this is the company's most overt move into defense. General Dynamics brings the platform integration. Epirus brings the weapon. Together, the three companies are pitching a new category — autonomous directed-energy ground vehicles — to a U.S. Army that has spent two years watching Ukraine and concluding its existing counter-drone playbook is inadequate.