Archer Aviation, the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and air-taxi aircraft manufacturer, announced on Thursday a slate of acquisitions related to its defense program.
As part of the announcement, Archer acquired a patent portfolio from Overair, an electric aerial mobility manufacturer, as well as hired multiple critical employees related to the patents. Overair is a spinoff of Karem Aircraft, developers of advanced fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
In hopes of shoring up its manufacturing capacity, Archer also acquired a 60,000 square-foot production facility from Mission Critical Composites, a specialized defense composite manufacturer in Southern California. According to Archer, this now allows the company to handle large-scale composite fabrication capabilities in-house, supporting its defense program needs.
Both of these moves come on the heels of Archer’s newly-minted partnership with defense tech company, Anduril Industries, to develop a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for defense applications. When the partnership between the two was announced in 2024, Archer raised over $430 million in additional funding, through a number of equity investments, to support the joint venture.
Another potential motivator for a bolstering of their defense program is the recent budget request allocation by the Pentagon, where they have requested $13.4 billion in funding related to autonomous military systems.
“The Administration has made it clear: Leading in advanced aviation in both commercial and defense is a national priority. These acquisitions are part of our commitment—we’re working to accelerate our product development to meet our country’s needs,” Archer CEO Adam Goldstein said in a news release.
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