Archer Aviation Teams Up With Defense Contractor Anduril

SANTA CLARA &&num;8212&semi; Defense company Anduril is partnering with Archer in an exclusive partnership to jointly develop a hybrid Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft for critical defense applications targeting a potential program of record from the Department of Defense (DOD)&period;&NewLine;With Archer’s ability to rapidly develop advanced VTOL aircraft using existing commercial parts and supply chains and Anduril&&num;8217&semi;s deep expertise in artificial intelligence, missionization, and systems integration, the partnership will accelerate speed to market for critical hybrid VTOL capabilities at a fraction of the cost of more traditional alternatives&period;&NewLine;Archer’s efforts on this project will be part of its new Archer Defense program&period; To support this initiative and for other general corporate purposes, Archer raised &dollar;430 million in additional equity capital, with participation from Stellantis, United Airlines, and new institutional investors, including Wellington Management and Abu Dhabi investment holding company 2PointZero, a subsidiary of UAE’S largest listed entity, IHC&period; Archer ended Q3’24 with &dollar;502M of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet and this raise brings Archer’s total capital raised to nearly &dollar;2B to date&period; Following this capital raise, and together with Archer&&num;8217&semi;s other announced financing arrangements, Archer believes it is now well-positioned with one of the sector&&num;8217&semi;s leading balance sheets with no near-term financing needs&period;&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Rapid innovation and scalable production are critical for maintaining technological superiority,&&num;8221&semi; said Shane Arnott, SVP of Engineering at Anduril&period; &&num;8220&semi;Anduril and Archer share a common vision for advancing capabilities that meet urgent national security needs, and we look forward to partnering with Archer to bring advanced vertical lift aircraft to our customers&period;&&num;8221&semi;&NewLine;Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer, said, &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Archer team has deep expertise in the rapid design, engineering, and production of next-generation vertical-lift aircraft&period; With Anduril by our side, and this new influx of capital, we will accelerate the development and deployment of advanced aerospace technologies at scale&period;”&NewLine;Archer Defense will be led by its Head of Advanced Projects, Joseph Pantalone&period; Mr&period; Pantalone recently joined Archer and is a seasoned leader in military aviation with nearly 30 years of experience at Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky&period; He will draw from the continued support of Archer’s world-class Defense Advisory Board, which was formed in May of 2023 and is made up of highly decorated and distinguished retired military leaders&period;&NewLine;

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