Shares of Archer Aviation (ACHR), the maker of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), jumped Tuesday after the company signed a deal with defense AI company Anduril (ANIN.PVT) to power its drones.
Archer Aviation shares rose 2% in early trading Tuesday.
Archer announced at the Dubai Airshow that it would supply Anduril – and its UAE-based partner EDGE Group – with Archer’s “dual-use electric powertrain technology”. The deal would accelerate the development and large-scale production of Anduril’s Omen autonomous aerial vehicle system.
Additionally, the UAE government said it would initially purchase 50 Omen drones as part of its commitment. Archer said its deal with Anduril and EDGE marks the first licensing deal for its powertrain technology – and the company intends to enter into additional third-party licensing deals in the future, unlocking more revenue streams.
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“For nearly a year, we have been working closely with the Anduril team to advance our hybrid-electric aircraft project,” Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said in a statement. “As we became more familiar with each other’s technology, exciting new opportunities for collaboration beyond the scope of the initial hybrid aircraft project were discovered.”
In addition to expanding the scope of its agreement with Anduril, Goldstein said the company will pursue new partnerships to become the powertrain supplier to other next-generation electric aircraft manufacturers.
“We have been working on Omen for over five years.” said Shane Arnott, Anduril senior vice president of engineering. “By combining the Archer team’s expertise in powertrain technology with a little magic from Anduril, we were able to evolve our propulsion solution to achieve the ranges, speeds and payload capacity we need to make Omen operationally relevant for a variety of dual-use mission sets.”
Archer’s main product, the Midnight electric flying taxi, can accommodate four passengers and complete multiple consecutive short-haul trips with minimal charging time between flights. Archer believes Midnight can replace 60-90 minute car journeys with 10-20 minute electric air taxi flights, which would ultimately be more cost-effective than car travel.
Tuesday’s deal with Anduril is the latest in a series of positive developments for Archer.
Last week, the company conducted a midnight test flight in the United Arab Emirates, aiming to make Abu Dhabi the first region to commercially operate its planes.
