ROBBRIEF
Halo, the commercial variant, shares its airframe and hybrid electric drivetrain with Anduril's Thunder defense drone, and both aircraft pack into a standard shipping container.
Archer Aviation and Anduril Industries have built one autonomous tiltrotor and are now selling it twice. As Thunder, the platform goes to militaries. Halo.
The two variants share their airframe, series hybrid-electric powertrain, and core avionics. They diverge at the payload bay, which is configured for the mission. Anduril revealed Thunder at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 21, 2026; Archer unveiled Halo the following day at the same show (Dronelife, AeroTime, Fox Business).
Halo's design is clean-sheet but builds on eight years of eVTOL work that began with Archer's Midnight passenger program. The platform uses dual optimum-speed tiltrotors that vary rotor RPM in flight for cruise efficiency and lower noise, plus a series hybrid-electric powertrain Archer says is sized for long range and endurance. The whole aircraft packs into a standard shipping container, which Archer pitches as global self-deployment by air, road, rail, or sea. Manufacturing is positioned to lean on the Stellantis supply base in Covington, Georgia.
What the source cannot yet carry: independent payload and range validation, the actual shape of the Marubeni partnership, the real status of the Midnight passenger program, and the civil certification path for an autonomous cargo tiltrotor. Financial terms for the Marubeni deal were not disclosed.