Anduril and Archer Unveil Jointly-Developed Autonomous VTOL Platform For Commercial and Defense Applications

Archer Aviation ($ACHR) and defense firm Anduril officially unveiled “Thunder,” a hybrid-electric autonomous VTOL aircraft designed for attack roles alongside crewed planes. It is built to fly alongside crewed aircraft like the AH-64 Apache as a "loyal wingman". It features tilt rotors with variable rotor RPM for optimal performance, speed, and reduced acoustic signature. It can fly in low-altitude, crowded environments. A single operator can command a swarm of 3-6 units without having to manually pilot each one. Central payload bay can hold up to five Hellfire missiles, a laser-designator pod, and Hydra or APKWS munitions, alongside an upward-firing counter-UAS module. Anduril has completed multiple test flights utilizing full-scale surrogate aircraft. The first official flight of the Thunder aircraft is targeted for 2027.