ThinKom Alecto HPM is moving from company-funded development into formal U.S. Army evaluation after ThinKom Solutions secured a prototype agreement with a ceiling of $49 million for its mobile high-power microwave counter-drone system.

The agreement will support delivery and evaluation of Alecto for mobile counter-UAS operations, according to reporting published on 19 August 2026 by SatNews and Military Embedded Systems. The award follows ThinKom’s public unveiling of Alecto on 30 April 2026.

The milestone is significant because Alecto is designed around a different operational requirement from many existing high-power microwave systems: defending forces while manoeuvring. ThinKom describes the system as a compact, low-profile HPM effector capable of “fire-on-the-move” operation and integration on platforms as small as Infantry Squad Vehicles and uncrewed ground vehicles.

Key Facts

  • Customer: U.S. Army.
  • Agreement: Prototype agreement/OTA with a reported ceiling of $49 million.
  • System: ThinKom Alecto mobile high-power microwave counter-UAS platform.
  • Purpose: Delivery and evaluation for mobile counter-drone operations.
  • Original launch: ThinKom publicly announced Alecto on 30 April 2026 following self-funded development.
  • Target set: ThinKom positions Alecto primarily against drone swarms and identifies Group 1 and Group 2 UAS as target classes for its counter-swarm architecture.
  • Technology: ThinKom’s VICTS steerable aperture combined with high-output vacuum electronics.

ThinKom Alecto HPM Moves Into Army Evaluation

The U.S. Army award represents a substantial programme-maturity step for Alecto.

Until April 2026, ThinKom was developing the system with its own capital rather than under a publicly announced military acquisition programme.

ThinKom unveiled Alecto on 30 April 2026, describing it as its first high-power microwave offering and positioning it primarily for counter-UAS and counter-swarm operations.

Less than four months later, the Army prototype agreement creates a government-funded pathway for evaluating whether those design claims translate into military utility.

The distinction between a prototype agreement and a production contract remains important.

The reported $49 million is a contract ceiling rather than evidence that the entire amount has already been obligated. The agreement also does not by itself establish Alecto as an Army programme of record or confirm a large-scale production order.

The more consequential near-term question is what the Army learns during prototype evaluation and whether successful testing generates a follow-on acquisition pathway.

Alecto Targets the Mobile Counter-Swarm Problem

Mobility differentiates Alecto from many earlier directed-energy counter-drone concepts.

High-power microwave systems have frequently been associated with fixed-site or semi-mobile protection of bases and infrastructure because power generation, thermal management and RF hardware can impose substantial size and weight requirements.

ThinKom is attempting to reduce that footprint sufficiently for a tactical vehicle to carry the system while moving with Army formations.

The company says Alecto reduces size, weight, power and cost compared with traditional HPM architectures and can potentially be integrated on Infantry Squad Vehicles and uncrewed ground vehicles.

If that concept proves reliable during Army testing, it would address an important protection gap. Manoeuvre formations increasingly face FPV drones, reconnaissance UAVs and coordinated swarms without always having access to the fixed infrastructure available at an established air base.

High-Power Microwave Offers a Counter-Swarm Effect

Alecto does not use an interceptor missile or projectile to physically collide with each drone.

High-power microwave systems generate electromagnetic effects against electronic systems. This potentially creates a one-to-many engagement mechanism against groups of electronically vulnerable unmanned aircraft.

That distinction is increasingly relevant to counter-UAS economics.

A kinetic interceptor generally consumes one round against one target. A directed-energy system instead depends on electrical power, thermal capacity, beam management and system durability, creating what the industry frequently describes as a deeper magazine.

ThinKom explicitly markets Alecto around rapid beam steering, low cost per engagement and a deep magazine against drone swarms.

However, the company has not publicly disclosed a complete set of Army-validated engagement ranges, probability-of-effect data or performance against specific drone electronics. Those parameters should therefore remain separated from manufacturer positioning until Army testing produces releasable results.

VICTS Is the Technology Connecting ThinKom’s Businesses

ThinKom’s entry into HPM is unusual because the company’s technological heritage is primarily in satellite communications rather than conventional missile or electronic-warfare manufacturing.

The common element is its patented Variable Inclination Continuous Transverse Stub, or VICTS, architecture.

ThinKom has spent years using steerable VICTS apertures to maintain satellite connectivity from aircraft and mobile platforms. Alecto repurposes that underlying RF-aperture expertise for a directed-energy application.

The company combines the steerable architecture with high-output vacuum electronics for Alecto, rather than simply converting one of its communications terminals directly into a weapon.

This distinction is important: the SATCOM and HPM systems share technological heritage, but they perform fundamentally different missions.

SES Partnership Demonstrated Multi-Orbit RF Agility

ThinKom’s earlier partnership with SES provides useful context for the company’s RF engineering base.

ThinKom and SES announced expanded multi-orbit capabilities on 18 March 2024, using ThinKom Ka-band terminals across SES geostationary and medium-Earth-orbit satellites.

The architecture enabled independent transmit and receive beams and simultaneous activity across GEO and MEO resources, allowing the system to balance satellite capacity, coverage and latency.

The SATCOM partnership is not part of the new Army Alecto contract.

Its relevance is technological: ThinKom had already demonstrated precision RF beam management, mobile apertures and multi-network operation before entering the high-power microwave market.

Government SATCOM Work Expanded in 2026

ThinKom’s defence footprint was already growing before the Alecto agreement.

On 20 July 2026, the company announced that its ThinAir GT2517 had completed SES Government Technology Certification for the O3b mPOWER MEO constellation.

ThinKom said the GT2517 became the first airborne terminal to complete that government certification process for O3b mPOWER.

The configuration is intended for secure, high-throughput communications supporting missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and command and control.

It can operate across SES geostationary and non-geostationary assets, reinforcing ThinKom’s position in resilient multi-orbit military communications.

Space Force Also Selected ThinKom Technology in 2026

The company also gained momentum on the ground-segment side of military SATCOM.

Space Systems Command announced in February 2026 that a containerised backup satellite gateway concept was the overall winner of its annual “Fight Tonight” competition.

SSC described the system as a transportable, resilient ground entry point capable of rapidly switching military communications across satellites in different orbits.

ThinKom subsequently identified the winning technology as its Containerized Digital Array.

The system uses VICTS and digital beamforming in a low-signature shipping-container format and supports multiple beams, bands, networks and orbital regimes.

By August 2026, ThinKom therefore had active defence technology activity spanning airborne SATCOM, proliferated ground communications and high-power microwave counter-UAS.

The Same Aperture Expertise Is Moving From Communications to Effects

This technology crossover is one of the more important aspects of the Alecto programme.

Modern defence RF systems increasingly blur traditional boundaries between communications, sensing, electronic warfare and directed energy.

The fundamental engineering problems differ, but several enabling disciplines overlap: precise beam pointing, aperture efficiency, mechanical packaging, mobility, RF management and software-controlled operation.

ThinKom is attempting to leverage an installed manufacturing and engineering base created for mobile SATCOM to accelerate its entry into the directed-energy market.

The Army evaluation will effectively test how far that crossover can go under an operational counter-UAS requirement.

Alecto Uses Vacuum Electronics Rather Than a GaN AESA

ThinKom also differentiates Alecto through its approach to high-power generation.

The company says the system combines VICTS with vacuum electronics and claims peak power densities orders of magnitude above gallium-nitride-based active electronically scanned array HPM architectures.

This is a manufacturer claim and should be treated accordingly until comparative government test data are available.

The architecture nevertheless creates an important competitive distinction.

Several leading U.S. HPM programmes have pursued solid-state electronically steered approaches. ThinKom is instead combining a mechanically steerable aperture with a different high-power RF generation model.

The Army now has an opportunity to compare not only individual systems but competing engineering approaches to counter-swarm directed energy.

Army HPM Competition Is Already Established

ThinKom is entering a market with established competitors.

The U.S. Army has already invested heavily in Epirus’ Leonidas under its high-power microwave counter-swarm work.

Leonidas prototypes have been delivered to the Army for testing, and follow-on Generation II systems have received additional Army funding.

This means the Alecto award should not be interpreted as the Army replacing an existing HPM architecture with ThinKom.

Instead, it demonstrates continuing Army interest in broadening and evaluating the HPM technology base as drone swarms become an increasingly central short-range air-defence requirement.

The Army’s future architecture could also contain different HPM systems for fixed-site, mobile, autonomous and platform-specific missions rather than selecting one universal microwave effector.

Alecto Fits a Different Mobility Niche

ThinKom’s strongest differentiator may therefore be its target platform class rather than absolute HPM power.

The company explicitly identifies smaller tactical vehicles and robotic ground platforms as potential installations.

This could allow HPM protection to move closer to manoeuvre units instead of remaining predominantly around bases or major command nodes.

The operational challenge is substantial.

A moving vehicle has limited electrical generation and cooling capacity, experiences vibration and terrain-induced movement, and must avoid creating unacceptable electromagnetic effects on its own communications, sensors, personnel and munitions.

Those constraints make a successful fire-on-the-move capability considerably harder than demonstrating HPM effects from a fixed test installation.

Electromagnetic Safety Is Part of the Design

ThinKom says Alecto complies with U.S. military HERO, HERP and HERF safety requirements covering hazards of electromagnetic radiation to ordnance, personnel and fuel.

That requirement becomes particularly important for a vehicle-mounted HPM system operating close to friendly soldiers, ammunition, communications systems and fuel.

Directed-energy counter-UAS integration is therefore not simply a question of generating enough RF energy to affect a hostile drone.

The Army must also establish electromagnetic compatibility with the rest of the tactical vehicle and surrounding formation.

Prototype testing should provide a more realistic measure of those integration constraints.

Counter-Swarm Economics Drive the Army Requirement

The strategic rationale for HPM remains closely linked to the economics of mass drone warfare.

Small unmanned aircraft can be manufactured in large numbers at costs far below those of many traditional surface-to-air missiles.

Using premium interceptors as the primary response can therefore create both financial and magazine-depth problems during sustained attacks.

HPM offers a potential alternative when the threat set is electronically vulnerable and several drones can be affected without consuming an individual missile for each aircraft.

Defence Agenda’s analysis of MORFIUS X-Rotor examined the same one-to-many counter-swarm logic from a different architecture: Lockheed Martin places the HPM payload aboard a recoverable airborne interceptor rather than a tactical ground vehicle.

The contrast illustrates how rapidly the directed-energy market is diversifying.

Alecto and MORFIUS Solve Different Geometry Problems

MORFIUS and Alecto should not be treated as direct equivalents.

MORFIUS carries the HPM effect toward the target aboard an airborne vehicle. Alecto keeps the aperture on a ground platform and attempts to provide rapid steerable effects while manoeuvring.

The airborne approach can alter engagement geometry by closing distance to a threat. The ground-based approach avoids launching and recovering an interceptor for each mission and can potentially remain continuously available alongside the protected formation.

Both concepts, however, target the same fundamental problem: generating sufficient engagement capacity against drone swarms without carrying an equally large inventory of kinetic interceptors.

Layered Air Defence Will Still Need Kinetic Effectors

High-power microwave is not a replacement for every short-range air-defence weapon.

Drone electronics can vary in susceptibility, shielding and redundancy. Target geometry, distance and the electromagnetic environment can also affect performance.

Missiles, guns, interceptor drones, electronic warfare and high-energy lasers will therefore continue to occupy complementary positions inside layered C-UAS architectures.

Defence Agenda’s coverage of ASELSAN Steel Dome’s new C-UAS layer demonstrates the same trend outside the United States, combining high-power electromagnetic effects with lasers, jamming and kinetic interceptors.

The procurement question is increasingly which effector provides the best cost, probability of defeat and magazine depth for each individual threat.

The $49M Ceiling Is a Major Validation but Not Production

For ThinKom, the scale of the prototype agreement provides significant validation of its rapid expansion into directed energy.

It is nevertheless important to distinguish potential agreement value from production revenue.

A $49 million ceiling defines the maximum value available under the agreement structure; actual expenditure depends on Army tasking, options, testing and programme execution.

The programme has also not yet disclosed a large production quantity or operational unit fielding plan in the public sources reviewed for this article.

The award is therefore best interpreted as transition from self-funded prototype to serious government evaluation rather than completion of the acquisition cycle.

The Main Technical Test Is Fire-on-the-Move Performance

The Army evaluation should focus attention on ThinKom’s most differentiated claim: operational HPM engagement from a moving tactical platform.

Vehicle motion places additional demands on beam pointing, target tracking, stabilisation, power management and electromagnetic safety.

Terrain also changes line-of-sight geometry continuously.

Alecto’s VICTS-based aperture is intended to provide rapid steering while maintaining the compact form factor needed for tactical mobility.

How that architecture performs against realistic multi-axis drone attacks while the host vehicle manoeuvres will be more consequential than static display specifications.

Production Scalability Is ThinKom’s Second Test

ThinKom argues that its existing experience manufacturing airborne antenna systems gives it a pathway toward Alecto production at scale.

That industrial heritage could become an advantage if the Army moves rapidly from prototype testing toward larger quantities.

However, HPM systems introduce components and qualification requirements beyond those of conventional communications antennas.

Production maturity will therefore depend on the complete directed-energy supply chain rather than VICTS manufacturing alone.

The prototype agreement should provide an early indication of whether ThinKom can translate its commercial and SATCOM manufacturing model into repeatable military HPM production.

Implications / Next

The first milestone to watch is disclosure of the Army’s prototype test programme, including the host vehicle configuration and operational scenarios used to assess Alecto.

The second is contract execution. The $49 million figure is a ceiling, so subsequent obligations and prototype deliveries will show how much of the agreement moves into funded work.

The third is fire-on-the-move validation. Successful mobile engagements would provide stronger evidence for Alecto’s differentiated tactical role than fixed-site demonstrations alone.

The fourth is integration with Army sensors and command-and-control. ThinKom says Alecto is compatible with key C2 networks, but practical Army testing will determine how effectively it can receive tracks, manage engagements and operate inside a layered air-defence architecture.

The fifth is follow-on acquisition. A production contract or formal programme transition following successful prototype evaluation would mark the decisive shift from technology entrant to fielded Army capability.

Finally, competition will matter. Army investment in multiple HPM approaches suggests that mobility, power density, electromagnetic compatibility, acquisition cost and operational reliability may become more important differentiators than simply demonstrating that microwave energy can defeat a drone.

Conclusion

ThinKom’s $49 million-ceiling Army prototype agreement is a significant transition for Alecto because the system has moved from a self-funded technology launch into a formal military evaluation pathway in less than four months.

The programme also illustrates an unusual industrial crossover.

ThinKom built its reputation around low-profile mobile SATCOM apertures, demonstrated simultaneous GEO/MEO connectivity with SES and expanded into resilient Space Force ground infrastructure. It is now applying related RF aperture and beam-control expertise to high-power microwave effects.

That does not make its satellite communications business part of the Alecto contract. It does explain the technological foundation from which ThinKom is attempting to challenge established directed-energy suppliers.

The Army evaluation will now determine whether that RF heritage can solve one of the harder counter-UAS problems: providing a compact, vehicle-mobile and economically sustainable way to defeat drone swarms while manoeuvre forces remain on the move.

If Alecto demonstrates that capability reliably, the $49 million agreement could become the bridge between ThinKom’s first HPM prototype and a much larger role in U.S. mobile short-range air defence.

For related Defence Agenda coverage, see MORFIUS X-Rotor Targets 50+ Drones Per Flight, ASELSAN Steel Dome Adds New C-UAS Layer and Global Invacom XY Antenna Debuts for Multi-Orbit SATCOM.

Further Reading