Archer, Anduril to develop next-gen defense aircraft

Archer Aviation and Anduril Industries on Thursday announced a new partnership that will see the two companies build a next-generation aircraft for defense applications.

The announcement noted that the first product to be developed by the partnership will be a hybrid-propulsion, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft that would target a potential program of record from the Department of Defense (DOD). Archer will also create a new division known as Archer Defense.

Archer's expertise is in building electric VTOL aircraft, including its commercial air taxi called Midnight, which the company expects to begin manufacturing at its facility near Atlanta, Georgia, next year with deliveries to follow. Anduril is a defense technology firm that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies, such as its Lattice OS command and control platform.

"We're announcing a new partnership with Andruil where we will work together to jointly build new future vertical lift aircraft for defense purposes and there is an additional $439 million of capital that's coming from investors into the company to help fund these initiatives," Archer Aviation co-founder and CEO Adam Goldstein told FOX Business in an interview.

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"I think it's a really exciting kind of period of time for companies like Archer. If you've seen the new administration's comments about building new programs with new companies that can help some of the modern needs – this is right up that alley," Goldstein said.

While the company isn't able to share details about the defense products it's building, Goldstein noted that the incoming Trump administration has discussed various manned and unmanned aerial solutions that could add cost-effective capabilities that could perform tasks that helicopters are used for and other use cases for helicopter-like aircraft.

Goldstein said that while VTOL aircraft won't replace all helicopters, they have a "really low acoustic and thermal signature" and are "much lower cost" compared to traditional helicopters. He noted that the Midnight commercial air taxi the company is selling has a cost of about $5 million.

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"There's obvious stuff to do that I think everybody, like humanity would appreciate. Imagine there were a lot more, just say, rescue vehicles that existed. Unmanned things that could come pick up people that are in need of emergency care and come take them out at a much lower cost than what helicopters could do. There's lots of use cases all over the place, and so we're excited to start building them up," Goldstein explained.

Archer has worked with AFWERX, which is an innovation focused division of the Department of the Air Force and is powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory. AFWERX looks to expand the ability of the defense industrial base to develop advanced technologies and speed up technology transitions to bring the new tools to operational status. 

Archer's work with AFWERX – which includes an up to $142 million Air Force contract – has allowed the company to draw on the experience of the Air Force and Army in designing and operating helicopters for defense contexts, Goldstein said.

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Goldstein explained that the partnership with Anduril came about in part because of Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey's interest in rotary aircraft and his personal fleet of helicopters. That background and the company's expertise in the defense space and capability of its software helped lead to what he expects to be a fruitful partnership. 

"We have a nice relationship to be formed there because we can help them build new products and they can help sell some of those, and then also add in a bunch of the stuff that they do really well – the mission control systems, the Lattice AI platform, which links into many of the big military programs," he explained.

"It's a really good partnership where we can move at speed because I think there are some products that the administration wants to build, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they want to wait 10 years for that to happen," Goldstein added.

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Goldstein noted that the partnership stands in contrast to the historical resistance of Silicon Valley startups to pursue ventures in the defense industry and that the incoming Trump administration's interest in accelerating change in the defense industry is helping to spur a shift in that mentality.

"We're in the Silicon Valley startup community, which historically has not played in defense. Anduril is really the first one that did that. So you've seen a really big change of the guard here. It used to be like if you mentioned the word 'defense' in Silicon Valley you were ostracized, now it's something that's like more revered, and I think that's a really cool thing," he explained.

"It doesn't mean that we're out there like building war machines, there's lots of stuff out there that's very interesting and helpful and capable and can be used for defense," Goldstein said. "Everyone's looking for change, boom, new administration comes in and says, 'Let's go change some stuff,' and here we are trying to build the new solutions to help push the world forward."