Thunder Takes the Stage, Anduril’s Autonomous Attack Rotorcraft Built to Fly With Apaches

Anduril Industries revealed Thunder today at the Farnborough Airshow, a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft developed jointly with Archer Aviation. The platform is designed from the start to fly alongside current and next-generation crewed attack and assault helicopters, multiplying their firepower while keeping human crews farther from the most dangerous parts of the fight.

Development began in 2024, thanks to a collaboration between the two companies. Archer offered their work on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and rotor technologies, while Anduril contributed their knowledge in Lattice mission autonomous software and defensive systems. They designed a tiltrotor from scratch that can take off and land vertically before converting to a smooth and efficient cruising flight. The key to all of this is a series hybrid-electric powertrain, as well as some clever tiltrotors that can change RPMs based on flight phase, all of which help to reduce power consumption, fuel burn in cruising mode, and noise profile while flying low.

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Thunder may be packed into a conventional shipping container and transported by road, rail, air, or sea, and it can also self-deploy over great distances. The main body and nose contain modular payload bays that may hold a variety of items, including ten air-to-ground missiles such as Hellfire, JAGM, and Anduril’s Barracuda-100M. Perhaps you’d prefer to carry sixteen air-launched effects like the Altius-600, or seventy-six 70 mm rockets. The nose bay can even contain a dozen counter-drone bombs, while electronics, sensors, and cargo may all be put into the same modular bays.

Thunder is designed to have the same range and speed of the Army’s next-generation Cheyenne II while carrying a payload comparable to that of an AH-64 Apache. Several test sorties have already been conducted on a full-scale prototype to iron out some of the major systems. The actual Thunder airframe is scheduled to fly in 2027.

Anduril’s autonomous capabilities are also controlled by its Lattice software. Thunder can operate alongside crewed helicopters, then safely separate from them, share a common tactical picture, and perform mission-critical duties with only high-level direction from a commander, removing the need for constant pilot control. And by attaching three of them to an Apache, you can increase the number of useful weapons without endangering more aircrew. Its design was influenced by lessons learnt in Ukraine about the vulnerability of low-flying helicopters to drones, air defenses, and other threats.

Thunder was designed to be more than just an attack aircraft. It can also execute long-range fire support, intelligence collection, maritime patrol or search for missing people, and perhaps anti-submarine operations. Archer plans to announce some commercial customers for the dual-purpose vehicle later this week, with an emphasis on freight and remote logistical operations that require the same vertical takeoff, range, and payload.

We don’t know how much Thunder will cost, but Anduril says it’ll be a fraction of the cost of a crewed attack helicopter and cheap enough that commanders will be ready to take some more risk if a drone is shot down. However, production will be based on commercial supply chains and manufacturing techniques designed expressly for eVTOL aircraft, which should help keep costs low and numbers high.