Archer Aviation has raised another $300 million to accelerate development of its hybrid-electric aircraft for the defence market.
Institutional investors participating in the latest round included funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.
Launched in December, Archer Defense plans to develop a “next-generation aircraft” for defense applications in partnership with Anduril Industries. This will feature a hybrid-electric powertrain and vertical take-off and landing capability.
“I believe the opportunity for advanced vertical lift aircraft across defence appears to be substantially larger than I originally expected,” says Adam Goldstein, founder and chief executive of Archer.
“As a result, we are raising additional capital to help us invest in critical capabilities like composites and batteries to help enable us to capture this opportunity and more.”
Following the latest raise, Archer says its liquidity position is now around $1 billion.
Archer’s reliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2024 show operating expenses in the range of $120-140 million.
Development of Archer’s full-electric Midnight passenger aircraft continues against a target of service entry in the UAE later this year. Archer has yet to fly a piloted sortie with the aircraft, however.
