Archer Aviation
Listed electric air-taxi maker pivoting into defence with Anduril via the Thunder tiltrotor.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Archer builds air taxis; why is it now co-building a Group 5 military tiltrotor with Anduril?
Timeline for Archer Aviation
Partnered Anduril to unveil Thunder
Drones: Industry & Defence: Anduril and Archer unveil the Thunder tiltrotorBackground
Archer Aviation, a listed electric air-taxi maker, unveiled Thunder with Anduril on 20 July 2026, a Group 5 hybrid-electric autonomous tiltrotor built for both defence and commercial use. The reveal marks ARCHeR's move from civil eVTOL air taxis into defence hardware.
Group 5 covers the heaviest uncrewed aircraft class. Thunder runs a series hybrid-electric powertrain with TWIN variable-speed tiltrotors, needs no Runway, and carries a modular heavy payload. ARCHeR says full-scale surrogate aircraft have already flown, with Thunder's own first flight targeted for 2027. No contract value accompanied the reveal, making it a positioning move rather than a funded programme.
The partnership pairs ARCHeR's air-taxi engineering with Anduril, which posted 2026 revenue against a 1.2bn dollar loss and has built most of its autonomy portfolio alone. Thunder gives Anduril a partnered airframe rather than another in-house build.