· Archer’s decision to supply its electric powertrain externally marks a significant shift in the commercial and defence applications of AAM technologies.

· The Anduril–EDGE partnership, supported by the UAE’s order of 50 Omen systems, signals strong regional demand for autonomous electric aviation.

· Archer’s proprietary propulsion platform strengthens its role as both an aircraft manufacturer and a strategic technology supplier.

· The deal highlights growing convergence between sustainability-focused electric aviation and defence capability development.

· Dual-use electric aircraft programmes such as Omen will require coordinated regulatory frameworks across civil aviation, defence policy and export controls.

A growing convergence between commercial electric aviation and defence innovation came into sharp focus at the Dubai Airshow 2025, where Archer Aviation announced a landmark agreement to supply its proprietary electric powertrain technology to Anduril Industries and the UAE’s EDGE Group. The decision marks the first time Archer has opened its internally developed propulsion architecture to external customers, signalling a shift in the industrial organisation of the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector at a moment when governments and manufacturers are reassessing the strategic, regulatory and commercial foundations of electric aviation.

The announcement holds wider policy significance because it reflects how electric propulsion originally developed for urban air taxi models is now being integrated into autonomous, dual-use aircraft programmes. That shift carries implications for future certification pathways, export controls, industrial scaling, and the alignment of sustainability objectives with defence capability requirements.

Archer confirmed that its powertrain will be incorporated into Omen, a hover-to-cruise autonomous air vehicle being jointly developed by Anduril and EDGE in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has already committed to procuring 50 Omen systems, establishing early demand for both the platform and Archer’s propulsion hardware. The commitment is one of the clearest signals to date of the country’s intention to accelerate sovereign capability in advanced air systems and to position itself as a regional hub for next-generation aerospace production.

Commercial technology with dual-use applications

The agreement builds on nearly a decade of investment by Archer into a vertically integrated electric propulsion system designed originally for its Midnight eVTOL aircraft. The company operates close to one million square feet of manufacturing and testing facilities in the United States, enabling it to produce battery packs and electric engines using automated processes intended to meet aviation-grade safety and reliability requirements.

Archer’s founder and CEO Adam Goldstein described the Midnight aircraft not simply as a vehicle but as a technology platform capable of supporting a wider ecosystem of electric aerospace applications. “Most see our Midnight eVTOL as an aircraft,” he said. “We view Midnight as a platform that plays host to a wide range of new and exciting aerospace technologies that will be leveraged way beyond our own aircraft. Our powertrain deal with Anduril is the first of what we expect to be many examples of this.”

Goldstein noted that the relationship between Archer and Anduril originated in a hybrid-electric aircraft project and evolved as both teams gained visibility into each other’s technical capabilities. He characterised the new partnership as a move that “opens up a new revenue stream” while reinforcing Archer’s strategy of leveraging its core heavy-investment technologies across multiple aviation markets.

Implications for defence and air mobility policy

For Anduril, whose model emphasises rapid iteration and deployment of autonomous systems, the agreement provides access to a mature propulsion architecture for a platform expected to operate across high-risk or high-tempo missions.

Shane Arnott, the company’s Senior Vice-President of Engineering, said Omen’s development benefited from combining Archer’s powertrain expertise with Anduril’s own engineering approach. “We’ve been working on Omen for more than five years,” he said. “By combining the Archer team’s expertise in powertrain technology with a little bit of Anduril magic, we’ve been able to mature our propulsion solution to achieve the ranges, speeds, and payload capacity we need to make Omen operationally relevant. The maturity and reliability of Archer’s powertrain platform de-risks our plans to deliver a production variant of Omen to customers at scale.”

EDGE Group’s participation further situates the programme within the UAE’s broader industrial strategy. Since its launch in 2019, EDGE has consolidated more than 35 entities into advanced-technology clusters spanning platforms, weapons, cyber technologies and homeland security. Its mandate includes accelerating the adoption of autonomous systems and fourth-industrial-revolution technologies, with a clear focus on export-oriented capability building.

Environmental, industrial and regulatory perspectives

Archer’s propulsion technology integrates aviation-grade batteries, electric engines and energy-management systems designed to support the rapid-turnaround flight profile of the Midnight eVTOL, which aims to reduce 60–90-minute car journeys to 10–20-minute electric flights. While Omen’s operational profile will differ significantly from that of a commercial air taxi, the underlying propulsion characteristics — low noise, reduced thermal signature, optimised energy efficiency and digital system monitoring — point to dual benefits across civilian and defence mission sets.

From a sustainability standpoint, the use of electric propulsion in aviation aligns with long-term decarbonisation goals pursued by national regulators and industry bodies. Although defence programmes are not typically governed by the same emissions frameworks as commercial aviation, the transition to hybrid-electric and fully electric systems reduces dependence on fossil fuels in certain mission classes and supports wider innovation in zero-emission aerospace technologies.

Regulatory progress remains a central consideration. Archer’s Midnight aircraft continues its certification process with the US Federal Aviation Administration, while the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority has begun outlining rules for eVTOL operations and urban air mobility integration.

Programmes such as Omen, which combine autonomous capability with electric propulsion, sit at the intersection of unmanned aircraft regulation, defence export controls and emerging AAM frameworks. This is likely to necessitate coordination between civil aviation authorities, defence ministries and standards-setting bodies as deployment timelines advance.

A redefinition of market structure

The deal positions Archer not only as an aircraft manufacturer but as a potential supplier of foundational electric propulsion systems for a wider set of aerospace applications. For air mobility manufacturers facing substantial capital requirements for certification, production and infrastructure, technology-component revenues offer a more diversified and scalable commercial model.

For governments, the development demonstrates how industrial partnerships can accelerate sovereign capability while reducing time-to-deployment for advanced air systems. And for the broader air transport and policy community, it reflects a deepening interaction between sustainability-oriented commercial aviation innovations and the strategic priorities of defence ministries and national industrial programmes.

As electric propulsion continues to move from concept to operational deployment across multiple sectors, the Archer–Anduril–EDGE agreement may be an early indicator of how future air mobility ecosystems are organised: interconnected, dual-use, and increasingly shaped by policy decisions linking sustainability, industrial strategy and security considerations.

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