Anduril and Archer unveil Thunder, an autonomous wingman for attack helicopters

Anduril and Archer unveiled Thunder, an autonomous tiltrotor built to fly beside Apaches after lessons from Ukraine made attack helicopters some of the most exposed platforms on the battlefield.

Anduril and Archer Aviation unveiled Thunder, a Group 5 autonomous attack tiltrotor designed to fly as a loyal wingman beside crewed helicopters like the Apache, at the Farnborough Airshow on Monday, Breaking Defense reported.

The hybrid-electric VTOL runs on Anduril's Lattice autonomy software and carries up to ten Hellfire-class missiles, 16 Altius-600 launched effects, or 76 70mm rockets, plus a dozen counter-drone effectors in the nose, according to Defense News and the UK Defence Journal. Anduril says pairing three Thunders with a single Apache would triple a Combat Aviation Brigade's available munitions without adding pilots to the fight.

"Attack helicopters and their crews, long the lifeblood of maneuver warfare, are increasingly held at risk by a combination of loitering munitions, cheap air defenses, and ubiquitous persistent ISR platforms," Anduril said in a release Military Times quoted, calling the near-surface fight "one of the most lethal places on the battlefield." Thunder's design draws on lessons the US and its European allies are pulling from the war in Ukraine, company president Chris Brose told reporters, Breaking Defense wrote.

Thunder packs into a standard shipping container for transport and has already flown on full-scale surrogate aircraft, according to Anduril executives cited by Breaking Defense and the UK Defence Journal. First flight is targeted for 2027, per Defense One. Neither company disclosed a price, though Brose called the aircraft attritable, saying it should be "affordable to lose" if it doesn't come home.

The unveiling lands a month after Anduril won the US Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract for its fixed-wing Fury drone, extending the wingman model from fighters to attack aviation, Defense One noted. Boeing pitched a rival tiltrotor concept for the Army last year, and eVTOL rivals Joby Aviation, Vertical Aerospace and Beta Technologies are chasing the same hybrid-electric defense niche at Farnborough, AIN Online reported.

How many Thunders reach production, and when, depends on demand from the Army and partner militaries, Anduril senior vice president Shane Arnott told reporters; the company is aiming for rate production in the 2029-2030 window if orders come in, per Defense One.