Archer accelerates defense program with two strategic acquisitions

Archer announced two strategic acquisitions to accelerate the development of its next-generation defense aircraft.

These acquisitions build on Archer’s December 2024 announcement of a strategic partnership with Anduril to co-develop hybrid, autonomous VTOL military aircraft—followed by $1.3B in capital raised to pursue defense and commercial opportunities.

Since that announcement, Archer continues to see growing demand from major allied defense programs worldwide.

To help meet that demand, Archer acquired a patent portfolio and hired critical employees from Overair, a spin-off of Karem Aircraft. Karem Aircraft developed and manufactured advanced fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft focused on the use of high-efficiency tiltrotors.

Archer also acquired key composite manufacturing assets and an approximately ~60,000ft² manufacturing facility from Mission Critical Composites, a specialized defense composite manufacturer in Southern California. These assets allow Archer to bring core composite fabrication capabilities in-house, supporting its defense program needs for rapid prototyping and iteration.

Both acquisitions come on the heels of strong industry momentum with the recent announcement of a budget request allocation by the Pentagon of $13.4B for autonomous military systems.

“The Administration has made it clear: Leading in advanced aviation in commercial and defense is a national priority,” says Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer. “These acquisitions are part of our commitment—we’re working to accelerate our product development to meet our country’s needs.”