Anduril and Archer unveiled an autonomous attack rotorcraft built on air taxi technology. First flight is planned for 2027.

TL;DR

Anduril and Archer unveiled Thunder at Farnborough, an autonomous attack VTOL built on a dual-use air taxi platform. Series hybrid-electric, tiltrotor, first flight 2027.

Anduril and Archer Aviation unveiled Thunder at the Farnborough International Airshow on Sunday, a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft built on a jointly developed dual-use platform. The aircraft is designed to multiply the combat power of crewed attack and assault helicopters by operating alongside them without a pilot. It uses a series hybrid-electric powertrain and dual tiltrotors that vary RPM across flight regimes, reducing fuel burn in cruise and minimising acoustic signature during low-altitude approach.

The platform’s architecture is the news. Thunder is not a modified air taxi. It is a clean-sheet design that takes the commercial eVTOL sector’s work on electric propulsion, rotor design, and vertical takeoff and applies it to a weapons-carrying airframe. The tiltrotor configuration combines VTOL with wingborne cruise, enabling runway-independent...

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