Joby Aviation announced Thursday that it has completed the first flight of its turbine-electric, autonomous VTOL demonstrator, designed for both commercial and military use. The aircraft flew on Nov. 7 at Joby’s Marina, California, facility, three months after the hybrid platform was first announced.
Built on Joby’s electric air-taxi design, the demonstrator incorporates a turbine-powered generator to extend range and payload for missions that may include future defense operations. It also includes the company’s SuperPilot autonomy stack, an onboard autonomous flight system that supports functions such as mission management, perception and navigation.
The aircraft is part of Joby’s partnership with L3Harris Technologies to adapt the hybrid VTOL for U.S. government needs. According to L3Harris, the platform is intended to support roles such as contested logistics, low-altitude support and “loyal wingman” operations.
Joby noted that the U.S. government has requested more than $9 billion in the fiscal 2026 budget for next-generation autonomous and hybrid aircraft.
JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s CEO and founder, said that accelerating development is essential.
“It’s imperative that we find ways to deliver new technology into the hands of American troops more quickly and cost-efficiently than we have in the past,” Bevirt said. “By building on our proven technology stack, our partners can rapidly deliver new capabilities for the Department of War while we benefit from advancing the maturity of our hybrid and autonomous systems. In turn, this will help pave the way for commercial applications.”
Flight testing will continue ahead of planned government mission demonstrations beginning in 2026. Jason Lambert, president of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at L3Harris, said that unmanned systems will play a critical role on future battlefields and that the companies aim to scale commercial VTOL technology to meet defense requirements.
“The future battlefield relies on unmanned systems augmenting manned platforms,” Lambert said. Our partnership with Joby accelerates missionized VTOL aircraft to directly support defense requirements.”
Joby noted that its hybrid platform draws on autonomous technology demonstrated during REFORPAC, a Department of War exercise in which the company conducted more than 7,000 miles of remote operations around Hawaii and Guam.
0 replies