- A reusable microwave drone reportedly disables more than 50 enemy UAVs per second. flight
- Lockheed Martin is pushing cheaper answers to increasingly dangerous drone swarms on the battlefield
- The Morfius X-Rotor counter-drone system enters testing after successful multi-state flight evaluations
Lockheed Martin has unveiled its Morfius X-Rotor counter-drone system at the 2026 Farnborough Airshow, calling it a low-cost answer to challenging drone swarms.
The land-launched system uses a one-to-many high-power microwave, or HPM, approach designed to disable multiple unmanned aerial vehicles during a single mission.
Company officials say the platform can neutralize more than 50 enemy drones in one flight, a capability aimed at countering large-scale swarm attacks.
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A reusable alternative to expensive interceptors
The 2026 Farnborough Airshow has focused mainly on affordable counter-drone technology as militaries face growing swarm threats across the globe.
Lockheed Martin says the approach avoids reliance on costly guided munitions typically used to attack individual air threats one at a time.
Unlike traditional interceptors that are destroyed after use, the Morfius X-Rotor is designed to be recovered and redeployed after each engagement.
According to Lockheed Martin, the system is compatible with existing command and control networks and does not require a dedicated sensor or fire control radar.
This design choice, the company says, lowers the barrier to integration across a wide variety of existing battlefield command networks.
The system “sets a new benchmark for counter-drone capability — delivering a high kill rate while keeping the cost per kill low,” said Randy Crites, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Advanced Programs.
“By leveraging a lightweight, reusable, high-power microwave architecture, we deliver the most efficient, low-cost solution on the market today.”
Lockheed Martin also announced plans to accelerate prototype production of both the drone platform and its microwave payload for frontline forces.
However, it has not revealed a firm timeline for when the system may reach full-rate production for its military customers worldwide.
Testing continues amid interceptor shortage
The Morfius X-Rotor recently completed flight tests in Arizona, California and Oklahoma, where the system reportedly performed interception missions.
Additional evaluation campaigns are planned in the coming months as engineers gather data on operational performance before wider deployment.
Lockheed Martin has not specified which branches of the US military have expressed formal interest in acquiring the Morfius platform.
This announcement arrives as US forces seek cheaper alternatives to expensive interceptors after depleting stockpiles against Iranian missiles and Shahed drones.
This shortage has intensified the debate over whether cheaper, non-kinetic systems like Morfius can reduce reliance on expensive ammunition over time.
Lockheed Martin used the same event to introduce a cheaper Patriot interceptor, part of a broader push to reduce defense costs per unit. unit.
Together, the two announcements suggest Lockheed Martin is banking heavily on affordability as a selling point amid tight defense budgets.
Whether the Morfius X-Rotor can match its stated kill rate under real combat conditions is so far unconfirmed outside of company-run trials.
Independent assessments of its effectiveness against dense, coordinated swarms of drones will likely determine whether the military deploys the system on a large scale.
Via Defense news
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