Unmanned choppers, India's Varun and now Anduril's Thunder to change how we think about drones

As technology leapfrogs and resets the boundaries of understanding, it moves from one milestone to another, with almost nothing left unchanged. These changes are visible in the realm of combat. One of these changes has been on display at the ongoing Farnborough Airshow, being held in the UK. At the premier global aviation event, US-based Anduril Industries has once again moved the lines of what can be.Anduril unveiled its autonomous attack rotorcraft Thunder, a Group 5 vertical take-off and landing aircraft developed with Archer Aviation. This unmanned system is designed as a drone wingman for current and future attack helicopters. This is the first rotary-winged unmanned wingman Combat Collaborative Aircraft (CCA).Built with a hybrid-electric powertrain and tilt rotors, the aircraft is intended to operate alongside rotary platforms such as the Apache and Cheyenne II.