eVTOL company Archer Aviation (Archer Aviation (ACHR)) announced Wednesday that it unveiled the company's Archer Halo aircraft for commercial opportunities through a partnership with Anduril, adding to the recently announced defense applications between the two companies.

Archer Unveils Halo

Fresh off unveiling Thunder at the Farnborough International Airshow Monday, Archer is highlighting Halo, the commercial variant of a partnership between the company and Anduril.

Halo is the commercial version of the jointly developed dual-use autonomous aircraft platform. Both Thunder and Halo share the same airframe, hybrid powertrain and core systems.

Archer said the commercial aircraft is able to achieve significant range and endurance and closely optimize power through the full range of flight conditions.

Halo is designed for "low-cost, high-volume production" among commercial supply chains. The aircraft can be packed into a standard-sized shipping container for transport by air, road, rail or sea, offering several transportation methods to reach future use sites.

"Over the past eight years we've engineered, tested and scaled the technology this platform is built on. The powertrain, the batteries, the motors, the manufacturing," Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said.

Marubeni Aerospace Corporation was announced as a strategic launch partner for Halo. The company is a subsidiary of the aerospace arm of Marubeni Corporation, one of the largest trading companies in Japan. The partnership will focus on joint market research, use case identification and the future introduction of Halo.

Marubeni Aerospace Corporation CEO Satoru Nakagawa said cargo transport flights with crew and human flights have scheduling constraints and human exposure.

"Halo's unmanned, autonomous flight capabilities can address these challenges, and combined with its excellent range, payload capacity and VTOL capability, make it a highly suitable solution," Nakagawa said.

More partners are expected to be named later this year by Archer and Anduril.

"I believe this is the most sophisticated vertical lift aircraft platform ever developed – it's exactly what our customers need," Goldstein said.

The Commercial Opportunity

Archer says that Halo brings together capabilities that other existing unmanned aircraft can't complete. This includes being long-range and high speed. The Halo is able to reach remote and offshore sites. The device can also carry a heavy payload.

Without needing a pilot, the Halo also provides lower costs for customers and no need for human exposure on hazardous missions.

As a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) device, the Halo can also access locations that don't have a runway.

Archer lists the following as potential commercial opportunity areas for the Halo:

• Offshore Energy
• Freight
• Humanitarian and Medical Cargo
• Maritime

"Halo arrives amid a growing need for commercial logistics to move heavy payloads long distances, fast, into places with no runway, at a fraction of the cost of legacy platforms," the company said.

ACHR Price Action: Archer Aviation shares were down 0.19% at $5.27 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to market data.