#299 Andy Lowery - Inside the World’s Most Advanced Drone Killing Machine

In this comprehensive three-part episode of The Shawn Ryan Show, host Shawn Ryan sits down with Andy Lowery, CEO of Epirus, to explore the revolutionary Leonidas high-power microwave (HPM) system—a cutting-edge, non-kinetic counter-drone technology designed to disable unmanned aerial vehicles by frying their electronics without causing collateral damage. Lowery traces his journey from a Navy nuclear enlisted sailor to a defense tech pioneer, highlighting how visionary investors like Joe Lonsdale and Grant foresaw the drone threat years before it became mainstream. The Leonidas system, built on gallium nitride semiconductor technology, delivers a steerable electromagnetic pulse with pinpoint accuracy, enabling safe operation in populated areas and scalable deployment across mobile platforms like the autonomous Leonidas AGV, which uses AI, radar, and Starlink for real-time threat neutralization. The episode underscores the system’s economic advantage—costing pennies per shot versus millions for missiles—and its role in countering asymmetric threats from mass-produced drones, particularly from nations like China and Russia. Real-world incidents, such as drone swarms over Barksdale Air Force Base, emphasize the urgent need for such defenses, while bureaucratic delays and ITAR restrictions are identified as key barriers to rapid adoption. Lowery further contrasts the limitations of traditional kinetic systems—high cost, limited production, and poor magazine depth—with the scalable, repeatable, and adaptive nature of non-kinetic solutions. He argues that the U.S. is at a strategic inflection point: while authoritarian states leverage centralized industrial capacity to flood battlefields with drones, America has the innovation ecosystem to lead a technological revolution in defense. The episode closes on an optimistic note, with Lowery advocating for real-world testing to validate the system’s effectiveness and expressing confidence that Epirus’s 'zero to one' innovation can help the U.S. reclaim strategic advantage in the evolving landscape of modern warfare, much like it did after 9/11.