Anduril Industries and Archer Aviation are developing a large hybrid-electric armed reconnaissance tiltrotor aircraft with the speed, range and payload capacity of the Army’s future long-range assault tiltrotor and current attack helicopter—serving as a loyal wingman to both—to enable maneuver warfare and deep strike missions.
The Group 5 Thunder unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has been in development for three years and is based on an exclusive partnership between Anduril and Archer they announced in late 2024. Archer has been focused on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft of air taxis and is developing a commercial variant of the dual-use platform.
Thunder has two configurable payload bays, one in the nose that could be equipped with 12 counter-UAS effectors or other payloads to protect itself and nearby manned aircraft, and the other in the main body that swings out on both sides of the aircraft and can carry 10 Hellfires or Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles, or 16 launched effects such as Anduril’s Altius-600, or 76 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rockets.
Like the Army’s AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, Thunder is designed to fly nap-of-the-earth, making it difficult to detect visually and by radar, and able to survive in a contested operating environment while attacking enemy aviation assets and mobile ground forces.
“That immediately gets into a time-sensitive dynamic targeting kind of mission space that a system like this has to be able to survive and persist and operate effectively in that environment,” Chris Brose, Anduril’s president and chief strategy officer, told reporters on July 16 ahead of the unveiling.
Near-surface flight has been a key focus of the autonomous technology development, Shane Arnott, autonomous flying development, Anduril’s senior vice president of programs and engineering, said on the media call.
Thunder is priced at a “fraction of the cost” of the Army’s future MV-75 Cheyenne II long-range assault aircraft and the Apache, making it attritable, even though it is meant to survive on the battlefield and return, Brose said. If it doesn’t survive, they are designed to be built quickly, just like the Collaborative Combat Aircraft the company is developing for the Air Force, he said.
Anduril has “spent a lot of time on the supply chain for Thunder” to ensure rapid production, Arnott said. The price point enables affordability which in turn enables mass for battle within the front lines and beyond, he said.
There isn’t another system currently that will be able to do what Thunder offers on battlefield, Arnott said. Working with a manned “quarterback” like the Apache, which will sort out targets, Thunder will help the manned assets survive while projecting power en masse deep, he said.
The Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which the MV-75 will replace a portion of, could also quarterback Thunder, Arnott said.
Higher flying aircraft drones such as the MQ-1 Gray Eagle, which is used for reconnaissance and strike missions, are being shot down by the Iranians and are “not relevant anymore,” Arnott said, adding, “that’s why we’ve gone back to the surface.”
Design and development of Thunder has been based on lessons from the Ukraine-Russia War where the front lines have remained relatively static and neither side has been able to successfully employ maneuver warfare tactics.
Testing and Features
Anduril and Archer are unveiling their respective aircraft at the Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom this week. Thunder is expected to begin flight-testing in 2027 and could enter “low rate production” by 2029 or 2030 depending on demand, Arnott said. The aircraft mission software, including that for nap-of-the-earth autonomous flight, has been in testing for two years, he said.
Brose would not disclose Thunder’s pricing. Anduril is also keeping a lid on product specifications for now.
Thunder will be able to take off and land vertically, and transition its rotors for fixed-wing cruise flying. The aircraft has landing gear and while the expectation is it will fly near the ground, it could fly around 18,000 feet. The tiltrotor design was chosen because it will make Thunder relevant for operations in the Pacific, Arnott said.
Group 5 UAS are defined as having a maximum gross takeoff weight greater than 1,320 pounds and an operating altitude above 18,000 feet.
Thunder can be packed into a 40-foot shipping container for multimodal transport, Arnott said.
Anduril has “been working with government customers” on Thunder, Arnott said, declining to disclose which “governments.”
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