Two aerospace companies have pulled back the curtain on a jointly developed autonomous aircraft platform built to serve both military and commercial customers — a collaboration that reflects a growing trend of startups joining forces to reduce costs and bring products to market faster.
Archer Aviation and Anduril, a defense technology company, developed the platform together under an agreement reached in 2024. On Monday, at the Farnborough Airshow in England, Anduril introduced the military version of the aircraft, named Thunder — a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft designed to operate alongside both current and future crewed attack and assault aircraft.
Archer CEO Adam Goldman explained to Reuters that the team built a purpose-specific aircraft rather than modifying an existing one. “Anduril has done a very good job of identifying needs and then building ahead of those needs before programs ever get announced… They identified a need, and we built a very specific aircraft for that need,” Goldman said.
He added, “When you want to look at a product that can have large-scale use on the defense side, they typically will need to be built and designed and catered towards that very specific customer and use case.”
Archer, which made its name developing electric air taxis, is expected to unveil its commercial version of the platform and name its first commercial customers before the week is out.
Shane Arnott, Anduril Industries’ senior vice president of programs and engineering, said Thunder is aimed at “anyone who operates Apache, anyone who operates armed reconnaissance helicopters.”
The platform runs on a series hybrid-electric powertrain and features tilt rotors engineered to adjust rotor speed depending on flight conditions. It is built to support a wide range of missions, including military strikes, cargo transport, remote logistics, and operations from hard-to-reach locations.
The move comes as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft developers have been searching for ways to grow beyond the urban air taxi market, which was once projected as a trillion-dollar industry. Certification delays, a lack of infrastructure, and high capital demands have slowed progress in that sector, pushing companies to explore hybrid-electric propulsion and broader markets.
For Archer, the Anduril partnership opens doors to the defense sector and heavier commercial applications at a time when the air taxi outlook remains uncertain. The two companies have already completed multiple test flights using full-scale surrogate aircraft, and Thunder’s first official flight is scheduled for 2027.
