Latest news with #Epirus
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Army Puts $43M Bet On Next Gen Leonidas High Power Microwave Counter Drone Tech
Today, high power microwave (HPM) system maker Epirus announced it has received a $43,551,060 contract from the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) for delivery of two of its new advanced Generation II Leonidas HPM air defense systems along with associated equipment and spares for test events, with options for additional tests, components and support. The Leonidas systems are being built now. The first is expected to be completed by the end of July and the second by the end of August, Eprius' CEO Andy Lowery revealed at a media roundtable attended by TWZ at the company's Washington, D.C., offices last week. A third system will be finished by late September. The Army formally refers to the Leonidas HPM system as the 'Integrated Fires Protection Capability High-Power Microwave' (IFPC-HPM) system. IFPC-HPM is intended for the critical low-altitude air defense (LAAD) role, defending installations, platforms, and formations. Leonidas is largely aimed at defeating unmanned aircraft, including swarms of drones. It could also potentially be employed against more traditional aircraft, as well as low-flying cruise missiles, and robotic threats on the ground or on the water. Epirus describes IFPC-HPM as an effective, cost-efficient electromagnetic interference system with a 'one-to-many' capability to disrupt the electronics of multiple drones simultaneously. It does so by transmitting long-pulse microwave energy across multiple frequency bands, which overloads the electrical systems of drones that fly into the electromagnetic field it creates. In view of the recent success of so-called 'Trojan Horse' drone attacks inside Russia by Ukraine and inside Iran by Israel, the Army and DoD writ large are eager to acquire defenses against pop-up swarms. These groups of drones could threaten U.S. bases, sensors, ships, ports, communications, and wider military/civilian infrastructure abroad and here at home. The Leonidas IFPC-HPM is part of a product line that also includes Leonidas Mobile, which features the company's HPM array integrated atop a Stryker vehicle system; Leonidas H₂O, a marinized system designed for counter-unmanned surface vessel and maritime counter-swarm; Leonidas Pod, a UAS-borne system for electronic attack; and an Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm system for forward-deployed defense for the Marine Corps, which TWZ covered earlier this year. The Generation II (GEN II) systems that the RCCTO is acquiring build on the design of the first version of Leonidas. They also benefit from user feedback from the deployment of four GEN I system prototypes to the Middle East in 2024 and to the Indo-Pacific earlier this Spring. The Army plans to test two of the GEN II systems at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California in October. The tests will assess their cooperative fires capability and other engineering metrics. Epirus' CEO told the roundtable that, in his view, the tests will be 'a defining moment' for the company. If the systems perform as expected, formal Army acquisition should follow. Success with the Army would kickstart demand for IFPC-HPM and the other Leonidas-based systems in at least three emerging markets, according to Lowery. The first is the basic overseas LAAD requirement that the Army seeks to fill. Lowery calls this the 'Tower 22' scenario, a reference to a drone attack launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq that struck Tower 22, a U.S. military outpost in Rukban, northeast Jordan, in January 2024. The attack killed three U.S. soldiers and injured 47 others. If an Epirus system had been in place and properly engaged, the American losses would have been prevented, Lowery maintains. He also cites the recent Israeli success in disrupting Iranian air defenses by attacking from within Iran with drones and loitering munitions as another demand driver in the overseas market, particularly in the Middle East. 'I think that's one of the most urgent applications of our system – get to those Patriot [surface-to-air missile system] sites in CENTCOM [the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility] and put Leonidas next to every one of those sites.' Homeland defense represents a second market. Lowery opines that IFPC-HPM and other Epirus systems could logically be part of the layered homeland air defense envisioned in the Trump administration's Golden Dome initiative. Noting potential threats associated with the upcoming World Cup soccer series, which U.S. cities will host next June-July, he suggests there is a need for in-place HPM systems near the match venues and at the U.S. southern border. Lowery also noted a recent meeting he had with Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Lt. General Adrian Spain, who expressed the service's urgent requirement for 'point defense' for Air Force bases and flightlines. TWZ has extensively elaborated on the risks of drone attacks to USAF bases at home and abroad for years. As a result of the threat and the meeting, Lowery said that he thinks the Air Force is likely to begin leasing IFPC-HPM systems in 2026. Possible acquisitions by the Marines (ExDECS, Leonidas POD) and the Navy may follow upcoming demonstrations for both services. The third market is in foreign military sales, spurred by developments in Ukraine and the Middle East. Lowery also noted the AUKUS Pillar II agreement, which has led to Epirus' participation in Australia's Project LAND 156, aimed at neutralizing small drones (up to 25kg) on the battlefield. Eprius' CEO says the company is 'fairly confident' that it will be chosen as a supplier for the non-kinetic effector portion of the program. AUKUS is a trilateral Australia-United Kingdom-United States defense cooperation agreement. Momentum for the sale of the latest version of the system is highly positive, Lowery told the roundtable. He added that the Army was 'extremely happy' with the two previous experimental deployments of IFPC-HPM I systems in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific. He characterized Eprius' discussions with the Army and DoD not as a question of whether they wish to move forward. 'The question becomes, what do we move forward with?,' he said. Today, Eprius could produce 20 IFPC-HPM II systems per year at its Torrance, California, facility with relative comfort, Lowery says, and may be able to stretch to 30 if required. With a view to potential demand, the company is assessing additional production in proximity to the Army's Joint Counter-Small UAS University and Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Prior to potential production, nailing down specific requirements, including maintenance, a curriculum for training, the deployed number of operators per system, and more, must be finalized with the Army. Ensuring that IFPC-HPM II meets range expectations as part of a layered LAAD system is vital as well. Lowery confirms that the Army has defined a region called 'Final Protective Fires,' which has a one-kilometer radius and a 600-foot altitude. 'That's the layer that IFPC HPM is designed to go into.' As TWZ has previously noted, radio frequency directed-energy weapons offer notable advantages over 'soft-kill' options, like electronic warfare jammers, given that they can also bring down drones that are operating autonomously, or those using fiber-optic-cable guidance, by disrupting their onboard electronics. However, Andy Lowery stressed that Epirus does not view Leonidas simply as a directed energy or HPM system. He makes a point of referring to it as 'weaponized electromagnetic interference.' Lowery explained that when Epirus began development in 2018, it was initially envisioned as a phased array version of a THOR-type (Tactical High-power Operational Responder) system. But after further developing IFPC-HPM GEN I, the company realized that Leonidas wasn't operating anything like THOR. Leonidas, he says, doesn't destroy drones by narrowly targeting and overloading their capacitors like THOR. Lowery compares THOR to a 'death ray.' Leonidas, he explains, generates a very intense electromagnetic interference field (EIF). The EIF formed by the system creates a dome or umbrella, which stretches out to what the Army calls 'tactically relevant range' around the transmitter and up to about 600 feet above ground at its apex. It does not target specific drones or even swarms. Instead, drones fly into the EIF on their way to their targets. IFPC-HPM does this by extending an electromagnetic field through large periods of time. Traditional HPM puts out a massively powerful pulse for about 10 nanoseconds – shorter than the distance between one computer clock pulse and the next clock pulse – Lowery says. Leonidas' HPM pulse extends to a millisecond, longer than even radars. 'Imagine, a thousand clock cycles might be in that millisecond. The whole time that electromagnetic energy is just hitting and hitting that [target], confusing it to the point where the system shuts down. That's how the [Leonidas system] works.' Along with illustrating how Epirus' HPM concept works, Lowery made what should be considered a noteworthy claim: 'We found that electromagnetic interference can be smart… It can figure out pathways into hardened areas if you get the carrier frequency pulses right. If everything is dialed in right, you can even penetrate what you might think to be a hardened, non-susceptible drone.' The ability to disrupt and down even electromagnetically shielded drones (or ground robots, uncrewed surface vessels, etc.) would present U.S. adversaries with a steep challenge if IFPC-HPM-type systems proliferate. In simple terms, the system consists of a phased-array antenna, supporting computer processing equipment, command-control links, a user interface, a trailer, and a transmitter. The heart of the transmitter consists of Line Replaceable Amplifier Modules (LRAMs), rectangular boxes which can scale in number to meet size, weight, and power requirements or desired range output. The IFPC-HPM has about 150 LRAMs. Lowery explains that most of the system's high-value electronics are in the LRAMs. Upgrades would be sent primarily to these modules as well. As a rule of thumb, the system's size and range scale linearly with the number of LRAMs. For example, a 10 LRAM system would have ten times less range than a 100-element system. In remarks to the roundtable, Lowery put the range of IFPC-HPM GEN I at about one kilometer. The GEN II version of the system increases the range to somewhere around 2 kilometers (1.25 miles). Expanding on the theme, he gave an intriguing example when discussing the scalability and range. If increased range were desired, Epirus could make a '25 LRAM by 25 LRAM' system, which would total 625 elements. Such a system, he said, would 'give you at least six or seven kilometers of range.' Lowery quickly added that 'this is all theoretical' and that Epirus is not selling any 625-element systems today. Leonidas' scalability aligns with cost, as well. According to Lowery, LRAMs represent 65% of the cost of IFPC-HPM, with the remaining 35% sunk into other equipment, including the antenna's metal columns, trailer, positioner, and other ingredients mentioned above. The open architecture and modularity of the system – from its LRAM complement to its phased array modules – make continuous software-defined improvement and upgrades possible. Given that its modules fail individually, IFPC-HPM can still function when one or more are lost, and failed modules can be easily replaced. This means that a buyer does not need to buy two Leonidas systems (primary and backup) to support 99% mission availability. With replacement modules on hand, field maintenance should be relatively straightforward. All of the above give it a sustainment cost much lower than traditional HPM or other directed energy systems, Lowery argues, putting the purchase price 'between $10 and $20 million' per system. 'We think Leonidas is very reasonably costed. We didn't build this with exquisite parts and gold-plated apertures.' Epirus began re-engineering IFPC-HPM in 2022, in accordance with the Army's desire for improved performance. 'Although [GEN I and GEN II] do the exact same thing, they are completely different,' Lowery adds. The new system produces 30% more power, can transmit continuously for much longer, and emits more heavy-duty pulses and cycles. It also exploits all the different cardinal signal polarizations, a capability that GEN I did not have. (Full signal polarization capability enables transmission of specially filtered waves.) 'We anticipate the range to be 2.5 times the range [of Gen 1] in the same size package,' Lowery affirmed. The changes, including increased peak power, called for a redesigned power supply structure, which now includes 800 pounds of lithium-poly batteries. The increased energy storage means that IFPC-HPM II can operate without any external power for up to 30 minutes of firing. Given that a typical engagement with one drone might take 4 seconds, Lowery says a 30-minute run with GEN II could take out many, many drones or guard against wave attacks. In the field or at a base, operators can choose whether they plug in a 70 kW generator and go for continuous use or employ a 20kW generator to periodically charge the system batteries like charging a Tesla. With GEN II also comes the ability to connect a pair of IFPC-HPM systems and fire them cooperatively. They would effectively operate as one, Lowery says, with a 2X linear increase in power and range. As noted, the cooperative fires capability will be tested at China Lake. It's ironic, if predictable, that the capability that IFPC-HPM has apparently demonstrated is also a vulnerability. In response to a question about the system's electronic signature and its high value as a target, Lowery admitted. 'I have a lot of concerns about that. When the system is dormant or in standby, there's no signature, no radiation, maybe a little heat signature. There isn't a lot to target off of other than its metal and physical size.' 'But if you transmitted with our system in Kyiv, they would be able to detect it in St. Petersburg. If they had a direction-finder, they'd be able to say, 'Hey, we had something 1,000 miles away just go off in the L-band.' It puts out a massive amount of energy, more electromagnetic interference energy than any other system in the world.' Given that IFPC-HPM II will be 'as bright as the sun' when transmitting, the Army will have to develop a concept of operations for use at the combat edge to ensure survivability in the face of adversary attempts to wipe it out. Lowery says the service may develop 'shoot-and-scoot' tactics, lighting IFPC-HPM up briefly to down drone or other threats, then immediately moving to another location to make the system harder to target by missile. Other attack risks, like drones dropping in from high altitude at high trajectories, will have to be considered, as well. Lowery says that Leonidas was 'born to be mobile' and that the IFPC-HPM system can go from a stowed position to a cold-start to up and firing in 'between 15 and 20 minutes.' Epirus will have integration efforts for its various Leonidas-based offerings on multiple vehicles early next year, with a nod to increasing their survivability and expanding their range by making them mobile. The sort of cat-and-mouse game that will play out with systems like IFPC-HPM is one that Lowery says has pervaded his career. Over the course of it, he has come to the realization that war is already being fought in a '6th domain' which joins air, land, sea, space, and cyber. He calls the new domain 'physical cyber'. 'The 6th domain war is a war of guerrilla robots, guerrilla warfare leveraging robots, autonomy, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Nvidia processors.' Ukraine, Israel, and Russia all now have service branches dedicated to drone warfare, Lowery notes. The U.S. military does not. But with the acquisition of IFPC-HPM and other counter-drone systems seemingly on the horizon, the possibility that America may stand up a dedicated robotic warfare service branch has increased. Lowery asserts that if the U.S. military does not adopt such systems and a 6th domain mentality quickly, it will lose. Contact the editor: Tyler@ Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Miami Herald
As Drone Warfare Evolves, Pentagon Sees Its Own Vulnerabilities
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has been working to beef up drone defenses at overseas bases in the past 18 months, after three Army reservists were killed in an attack by an Iran-backed militia on an outpost in Jordan early last year. But in recent months, the U.S. military has seen a potentially broader vulnerability, as both Israel and Ukraine attacked adversaries with drones smuggled deep behind enemy lines. The audacious and creative use of drones by an Israeli intelligence agency to mount strikes from inside Iran, and Ukraine's so-called Operation Spider's Web, which knocked out Russian strategic bombers with drones launched from inside Russia, has made clear that the threat to the U.S. military is not just overseas, but also at home. American defense companies are pushing new technologies that they say can more effectively intercept drones. The companies are hoping that the billions of dollars the Pentagon is planning to invest in missile defense -- the so-called Golden Dome program -- will also be used to build up new drone defenses. Some new technologies aim not to shoot down drones one by one, but use what is known as directed energy, including high-powered microwaves, to take down large swarms of drones at once. The military has conducted at least two tests of the new microwave system, including one in the Middle East and one in the Pacific, setting the stage for a bigger Pentagon investment. The leaders of Epirus, the company that developed the microwave defense, have warned that the rise of new kinds drones means the U.S. military faces a 'guerrilla war of machines,' a style of fighting that is alien to the Pentagon's traditional way of thinking. Andy Lowery, chief executive of Epirus, said drone warfare between Russia and Ukraine had evolved with breathtaking speed. 'What we saw in Russia will play out here,' he said. 'Operation Spider's Web should be a real wake-up call to us, to the whole world, that this is very, very serious.' Ukraine, with U.S. help, has invested in drone technology and has developed new kinds of drones that can be used against ships, planes and tanks. American officials estimate that in recent months, Ukrainian drones have caused some 70% of Russian casualties. During Operation Spider's Web, Ukraine's intelligence agency smuggled drones across Russia to strike multiple air bases at once, destroying a large number of Russian strategic bombers. The attack highlighted how effective relatively cheap, concealable drones can be against traditional militaries. 'We're watching with our jaws dropped down on how fast the Ukrainians adapt to new technologies,' Lowery said. Russia has used its own drones and ones built by Iran to terrorize Ukrainian troops and the country's civilian population. Iranian drones have been used by Tehran-backed militias, not just in the attack in Jordan that killed the U.S. Army reservists, but in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. And Israel's use of drones smuggled into Iran in its initial attack on the country's nuclear program last month showed how quickly new technologies were spreading around the world. Shifting its strategy to counter drones, experts said, has challenged the Pentagon. 'This is a Sept. 11-style problem, and we are still operating in a Sept. 10 mindset,' said Christian Brose, chief strategy officer at Anduril, a defense company that makes equipment for the U.S. military to detect and destroy adversarial drones. 'On the day after a catastrophic attack, there is going to be a string of evidence that we should have seen this coming.' Pentagon officials insist they are taking the threat seriously and making investments to improve defenses. American commanders, especially in the Middle East, have taken steps over the past several years to build what the military calls a layered network of defenses, including jamming devices, missiles and other systems, to ward off hostile drone, rocket and missile attacks. Those efforts accelerated after the three Army reservists were killed in January 2024 at a remote logistics outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22. The drones were fired at the base by Iran-backed militias. Since then, the military has made 'considerable improvements across the board,' Adm. Charles B. Cooper II, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next head of the Pentagon's Central Command, told senators last month. 'We really are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were before' the attack in Jordan, Cooper said. 'Having said that, I would never be satisfied that we have the maximum readiness.' But Brose and others said the threat is not just at overseas bases. In December 2023, surveillance drones flew over an Air Force base in Virginia where F-22 planes were stationed. 'Does anyone believe if a country wanted to try to do to us what the Ukrainians did to Russia that they wouldn't have a decent ability to be successful?' Brose asked. 'Do we think it's impossible that a willing adversary couldn't sneak nefarious drones into the country?' Lowery, the Epirus chief executive, noted that the Pentagon had spared counter-drone defenses from its across-the-board cuts announced earlier this year. In hearings on Capitol Hill last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked repeatedly by Republican and Democratic lawmakers about America's vulnerability to drone attacks. Hegseth said that 'cheaper, one-way commercially available drones with small explosives represent a new threat.' Hegseth said that he met with Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and top aides soon after the Ukrainian attacks to ensure that military forces based in the United States and overseas were adequately protected. The secretary recently approved the creation of a new organization, led by the Army, to address drone warfare and counter-drone measures, Gen. James Mingus, the Army's vice chief of staff, said at a conference in Washington last week. The organization is modeled after an agency the Pentagon formed two decades ago to counter roadside bombs that insurgents used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army oversees drone defense for the military. But critics of the Army's past approaches have said its counter-drone defenses are built on older technology and are not adaptable enough, given how quickly the drone threat has evolved on the battlefield in Ukraine. New technologies can detect and identify incoming drones, then take them out more efficiently. Older technology, critics say, is poor at identifying drones, including which ones pose the most acute and immediate threat. Robust drone defense requires multiple ways to take out a drone, some defense experts said. Anduril, which has contracts with Special Operations Command and the Marine Corps, has a counter-drone system that combines methods for detecting a drone, including cameras and radar, with various ways to take it down, including shooting down the drone and jamming it. Supporters of those technologies say the innovations show that the government does not have to invent counter-drone systems, but simply adopt new technologies more quickly. Corporations making new anti-drone technologies have complained that government regulations hinder development. Lowery compared the emerging drone threat to a famous scene from Star Wars. 'We aren't thinking about the fact that an X-Wing pilot dropped a little bomb in the middle of the Death Star and blew the whole thing to smithereens,' Lowery said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
From the Greek mountains to Manhattan: folk music icon Petroloukas Chalkias honored after death
Greece is honoring the late clarinetist Petroloukas Chalkias, whose hypnotic, note-bending performances over the course of more than 70 years made him a hero of mountain folk music. Chalkias, who died at 90 over the weekend, lay in state Wednesday at the Athens Cathedral — a rare honor typically reserved for prime ministers and religious leaders. As pallbearers emerged through the doors in a chapel next to the cathedral, carrying the coffin, silence descended. Mourners then clapped and shouted 'immortal' as musicians played folk tunes. It was a solemn prelude to his funeral which will take place in the rugged highlands of Epirus, in northwest Greece, where he first took up the clarinet as a boy of 11. Greek President Constantine Tassoulas earlier this week described Chalkias as a 'legendary figure.' Epirus' folk music, slowly unfolding and often centered around the clarinet, is steeped in improvisation, with its wanderings inviting comparisons to rural blues and jazz. It's one of the reasons that, while not so distinguished as a recording artist, Chalkias' live performances made him a household name for Greeks young and old alike. His style evolved after settling in New York as a young man, joining a wave of musicians who emigrated along with other Greeks to escape the hardship of postwar poverty. Chalkias found an unlikely second stage: dimly-lit clubs filled with Greek emigres and curious outsiders. Among those drawn to his performances were jazz legends Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. Musicians paying their respects on Wednesday praised Chalkias for his generosity with his time in helping fellow artists. 'I was a young woman when I started out and I was incredibly lucky to have him support me,' folk singer Giota Griva said. 'His influence was immense. He was an artist who will never leave us.' Born Petros Loukas Chalkias, the musician was the son and grandson of clarinet players. He was raised with the region's rich tradition of live music — an essential part of village festivals, celebrations, and mourning rituals. Discouraged at first by a family wary of the musician's path, the young Chalkias fashioned his own makeshift clarinet from a hollow reed, carving its finger holes. By his early teens, his playing — raw and instinctive, but undeniably gifted — was good enough to earn him a spot on national radio. Chalkias spent nearly 20 years in the US and raised a family there, but said he always intended to return to Greece. He did so in 1979, performing live across the country and reconnecting with Delvinaki, the red-roofed mountain village of his birth near Greece's border with Albania. Delvinaki bore deep scars from the devastations of World War II and the civil war that followed. Chalkias, like many of his generation, grew up with interrupted schooling and little formal training. His music was learned by ear and memory, and never performed using sheet music. 'In the hearts of all Greeks, he stands as the foremost ambassador of our folk song tradition,' President Tassoulas, also from Epirus, said in a statement. 'Though Petros Loukas Chalkias has departed this life, his voice has not fallen silent –- nor will it ever.' Chalkias died in Athens. His family did not announce the cause of his death. His funeral will be held at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Delvinaki on Thursday. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
From the Greek mountains to Manhattan: folk music icon Petroloukas Chalkias honored after death
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is honoring the late clarinetist Petroloukas Chalkias, whose hypnotic, note-bending performances over the course of more than 70 years made him a hero of mountain folk music. Chalkias, who died at 90 over the weekend, lay in state Wednesday at the Athens Cathedral — a rare honor typically reserved for prime ministers and religious leaders. As pallbearers emerged through the doors in a chapel next to the cathedral, carrying the coffin, silence descended. Mourners then clapped and shouted 'immortal' as musicians played folk tunes. It was a solemn prelude to his funeral which will take place in the rugged highlands of Epirus, in northwest Greece, where he first took up the clarinet as a boy of 11. Greek President Constantine Tassoulas earlier this week described Chalkias as a 'legendary figure.' Epirus' folk music, slowly unfolding and often centered around the clarinet, is steeped in improvisation, with its wanderings inviting comparisons to rural blues and jazz. It's one of the reasons that, while not so distinguished as a recording artist, Chalkias' live performances made him a household name for Greeks young and old alike. His style evolved after settling in New York as a young man, joining a wave of musicians who emigrated along with other Greeks to escape the hardship of postwar poverty. Chalkias found an unlikely second stage: dimly-lit clubs filled with Greek emigres and curious outsiders. Among those drawn to his performances were jazz legends Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. Musicians paying their respects on Wednesday praised Chalkias for his generosity with his time in helping fellow artists. 'I was a young woman when I started out and I was incredibly lucky to have him support me,' folk singer Giota Griva said. 'His influence was immense. He was an artist who will never leave us.' Born Petros Loukas Chalkias, the musician was the son and grandson of clarinet players. He was raised with the region's rich tradition of live music — an essential part of village festivals, celebrations, and mourning rituals. Discouraged at first by a family wary of the musician's path, the young Chalkias fashioned his own makeshift clarinet from a hollow reed, carving its finger holes. By his early teens, his playing — raw and instinctive, but undeniably gifted — was good enough to earn him a spot on national radio. Chalkias spent nearly 20 years in the US and raised a family there, but said he always intended to return to Greece. He did so in 1979, performing live across the country and reconnecting with Delvinaki, the red-roofed mountain village of his birth near Greece's border with Albania. Delvinaki bore deep scars from the devastations of World War II and the civil war that followed. Chalkias, like many of his generation, grew up with interrupted schooling and little formal training. His music was learned by ear and memory, and never performed using sheet music. 'In the hearts of all Greeks, he stands as the foremost ambassador of our folk song tradition,' President Tassoulas, also from Epirus, said in a statement. 'Though Petros Loukas Chalkias has departed this life, his voice has not fallen silent –- nor will it ever.' Chalkias died in Athens. His family did not announce the cause of his death. His funeral will be held at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Delvinaki on Thursday. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
Technical.ly
13-06-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
This Virginia startup is developing tech to make data centers more energy efficient
Startup profile: Claros Founded by: Dan Kultran and Grant Verstandig Year founded: Emerged from stealth in 2025 Headquarters: McLean, VA Sector: Energy management, manufacturing Funding and valuation: $9.75 million raised. Valuation undisclosed Key ecosystem partners: Red Cell Partners, Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation Founders out of Fairfax County are building tech for data centers that acts as a 'switchblade knife' for energy use. Claros, a hardware and software company, emerged from stealth earlier this year with $9.75 million in initial investment as data centers continue to guzzle power. The startup focuses on two main products: tech changing the way power is distributed to data centers to allow for multiple energy sources, and 'integrated voltage regulators' to funnel power directly to chips in servers. That's normally a complex process that eats up energy, and the second of these two products provides a more efficient way to send power, cofounder and CEO Dan Kultran explained. 'AI is going through a very fast design cycle,' Kultran, who is based near Los Angeles, told 'There's a gap between the infrastructure to support these chips, and we're the people that bridge that divide.' Virginia is home to what's dubbed Data Center Alley, where the demand for power is growing as more structures get built. This need increases in the summer months, when the hotter temperatures call for more energy to cool the centers. Loudoun County, the epicenter of that region, has 200 data centers and 117 to be built, per a white paper. Claros is headquartered in Virginia in part because of its data center concentration, per Kultran. He and his cofounder Grant Verstandig met at the defense technology startup Epirus in Redondo Beach, California, which Verstandig also founded. Kultran wanted to take what he learned at Epirus and go into AI infrastructure. 'We found that was another great purpose and great mission, to try to help, because we love solving hard problems,' Kultran said. Tech to use more renewable energy While Kultran sees a lot of discourse about generating power for data centers, he wanted to try and leverage the energy that's already available. Claros' integrated voltage regulator sits right under or next to the chips in data centers to be able to deliver power. Chips use very little voltage, but a lot of power, Kultran explained. 'Think of these as little circuits … that are helping the translation of energy from the grid,' he said, adding: 'It needs a different kind of conversion mechanism, and that's what we provide.' The startup's other product changes how power is routed to the racks inside data centers, per Kultran. Most designs for data center power operate using alternating current, while Claros' tech employs direct current power. That way, developers can better connect to multiple forms of energy, including renewables and the grid — essentially, 'whatever form of energy that's available,' per Kultran. 'Think of it like a switchblade knife, where you can now switch between wind, solar, grid — very easily into a single output that now the data center can use,' he said. The startup's customers are chip makers and data center operators and builders, Kultran noted, though he declined to name specific buyers. Manufacturing is underway, thanks to investment. Red Cell Partners, an incubation and investment firm also based in McLean, launched Claros. Verstandi, Claros' cofounder, is also the founder of the incubator. Claros additionally nabbed funding from Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation's Virginia Venture Partners, General Catalyst and Composite Capital Partners. The startup is using the cash to start the manufacturing process. Designs were sent off about three months ago, Kultran said. The staff headcount is 20 people, and that's expected to grow to 30 people by the end of 2025. Kultran credits landing the investments to opportune timing, and data center energy consumption being an 'evident' problem. 'We just happen to be at the right place, at the right time in history,' Kultran said, 'where AI is now the talk of the town.'
