HANGAR TALK UAS & eVTOL NEWS RELATING TO UNCrewed, AAM & eVTOL SYSTEMS
Pictured: Halo, the commercial variant of Archer and Anduril’s jointly-developed dual-use platform built to serve both defense and commercial applications.
Introducing Halo: Archer’s Commercial Dual-Use Autonomous VTOL Aircraft Platform Developed With Anduril
Archer Aviation recently announced Halo, the commercial variant of a jointly developed dual-use platform built to serve both defense and commercial applications. Anduril unveiled Thunder, the defense variant of the platform, at the Farnborough International Airshow. The two variants share the same airframe, hybrid powertrain and core systems, with configurable payload depending on mission requirements.
Archer technology stack
This new dual-use autonomous VTOL aircraft platform, highlighted by its Halo (commercial) and Thunder (defense) variants, builds on eight years of eVTOL development and flight testing by Archer. It features a clean-sheet design, bringing
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the commercial VTOL sector’s rapid innovation in electric propulsion and rotor design directly into a performance- optimized configuration.
At the core of the platform is innovation in hybrid-electric powertrain and optimum- speed tiltrotors:
•
Hybrid-electric powertrain: A series hybrid-electric powertrain enables Halo to achieve significant range and endurance, while closely optimizing power through the full range of flight conditions.
• Dual tiltrotors: Dual tiltrotors vary rotor RPM to maintain efficiency across flight regimes, reducing power demand and fuel burn in cruise and minimizing noise for operations in suburban and noise- sensitive environments.
The tiltrotor configuration, series hybrid- electric powertrain, and rotor technology provides this platform with the range necessary to support global self- deployment. Alternatively, the aircraft can be packed into a standard shipping container for transport by air, road, rail, or sea, offering the multi-modal transport logistics required to reach where it needs to be.
Designed for low-cost, high-volume production using commercial supply chains, the platform behind Halo and Thunder is built to support broad deployment, rapid production and the scale commercial and defense markets require.
“Over the past eight years we’ve engineered,
tested and scaled the
technology this platform is built on. The powertrain, the batteries, the motors, the manufacturing. We partnered with
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