Archer and Anduril unveil autonomous aircraft for defense and business

Archer Aviation and Anduril Industries unveiled a jointly developed autonomous vertical takeoff and landing aircraft platform at the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England, pushing both companies deeper into the same dual-use market that is reshaping aviation procurement. The platform was built to serve both defense and commercial customers, with Anduril showcasing a defense variant called Thunder, described as a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft.

The announcement built on a relationship the companies first disclosed in 2024, when Archer and Anduril said they were forming an exclusive partnership to develop a hybrid VTOL aircraft for critical defense applications, with an eye toward a potential program of record from the U.S. Department of Defense. Archer said at the time that it had raised an additional $430 million, underscoring how quickly the company was willing to lean beyond its urban air mobility pitch.

That collaboration widened in 2025, when Archer said it would supply its proprietary electric powertrain technology to Anduril and EDGE Group for their Omen autonomous air vehicle. The move showed that Archer’s propulsion system could be adapted across multiple platforms, not just its own aircraft, and that Anduril was building a broader family of autonomous systems around its software stack and mission-autonomy tools.

Anduril has also been advancing Fury, its autonomous air vehicle, using its Lattice software, a sign that the company sees autonomous aircraft as part of a larger systems business rather than a single airframe bet. That matters in a market where militaries want lower-cost, adaptable aircraft for reconnaissance, logistics and other mission sets, while commercial operators are looking for automation that can lower operating costs and improve flexibility.

The financial reaction suggested investors saw more than a product demo. Archer stock jumped about 20% after the announcement, reflecting enthusiasm for a defense line that could sit alongside the company’s commercial ambitions. For Archer, the partnership broadens the company’s story beyond passenger air taxis. For Anduril, it extends a defense model built around software, sensors and uncrewed systems into aircraft that can move between military and civilian use.

That crossover is drawing more attention because autonomous aviation still faces scrutiny over safety certification, reliability, cyber risk and airspace integration. The Archer-Anduril platform shows how quickly those lines are blurring as aerospace companies try to reuse technology across markets, shorten development cycles and win contracts that increasingly reward flexibility over a single-purpose aircraft design.