Joby Celebrates First Flight of Turbine Electric Demonstrator Aircraft
- Demonstrator aircraft integrates hybrid turbine into Joby's proven electric aircraft platform
- Aircraft flew just three months after announcement of hybrid concept, demonstrating value of vertical integration and the velocity of dual-use technology development
- Joby and L3Harris remain on track to begin flying government mission demonstrations using the aircraft in 2026
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) today announced the first flight of its turbine electric, autonomous VTOL aircraft. The demonstrator builds on Joby's fully-electric air taxi platform and integrates a hybrid turbine powertrain along with the Company's SuperPilot™ autonomy stack to deliver greater range and payload capability. Potential applications for Joby's hybrid aircraft include longer range air taxi services as well as sales to civilian, commercial and defense customers.
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Joby's turbine electric, autonomous VTOL aircraft takes its first flight in Marina, CA just three months after Joby announced the aircraft concept alongside a new partnership with L3Harris Technologies. Credit: Joby Aviation
The start of flight testing comes just three months after Joby announced the aircraft concept alongside a new partnership with L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX), who bring proven expertise on platform missionization, including sensors, effectors, communication and collaborative autonomy. L3Harris plans to equip Joby's commercial hybrid aircraft to address defense applications, such as contested logistics, "loyal wingman" operations and low-altitude support. The U.S. government has prioritized the acquisition of resilient, autonomous and hybrid aircraft, requesting over $9 billion in the FY26 budget for next-generation platforms.
"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," said JoeBen Bevirt, CEO and Founder of Joby. "Our vertical integration puts us in a unique position to deliver on this goal, moving from concept to demonstration - and from demonstration to deployment - at a pace that is unprecedented in today's aerospace and defense industry."
The aircraft completed its first flight at Joby's Marina, California, facility on November 7. It will continue ground and flight testing before taking part in operational demonstrations with government customers, planned for 2026.
"The magic of dual-use technology is that it creates value in both directions," added Bevirt. "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, from longer-range hybrid VTOL missions to autonomous air operations in commercial airspace."
"The future battlefield relies on unmanned systems augmenting manned platforms, and our partnership with Joby accelerates missionized VTOL aircraft to directly support defense requirements," said Jason Lambert, President, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, L3Harris. "L3Harris has delivered thousands of missionized aircraft, and our focus is scaling rapidly to bring these commercial VTOL aircraft to the fight."
The hybrid aircraft builds on a proven all-electric technology platform that has completed more than 50,000 miles of flight testing and has entered the final stage of the FAA's Type Certification process for commercial aircraft. Joby's SuperpilotTM autonomous technology stack has been in development for more than five years and, in July, the company successfully participated in REFORPAC, a landmark Department of War exercise over the Pacific Ocean. Using a conventional Cessna 208 aircraft, the company logged more than 7,000 miles of autonomous operations across more than 40 flight hours in and around Hawaii, managed primarily from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, more than 3,000 miles away.
Key Features of Joby's Hybrid Aircraft Platform:
- Long Range: Turbine-electric propulsion delivers longer range as well as extended hold times required for critical multi-role missions, "loyal wingman" and contested logistics.
- Agile: Precise vertical maneuverability allows the aircraft to deploy effectively from rear- and forward-operating locations where traditional runway infrastructure is regularly unavailable.
- Autonomous: Designed to be autonomous utilizing Joby's proven autonomous flight technology, Superpilot™.
About Joby
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi. Joby intends to both operate its fast, quiet, and convenient air taxi service in cities around the world and sell its aircraft to other operators and partners. To learn more, visit www.jobyaviation.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the development and performance of our aircraft, the growth of our manufacturing capabilities, our regulatory outlook, progress and timing, including our expectation to begin flying government mission demonstrations in early 2026; potential contract opportunities with the US government; our business plan, objectives, goals and market opportunity; plans for, and potential benefits of, our strategic partnerships; and our current expectations relating to our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, capital needs and growth of our operations, including the expected benefits of our vertically-integrated business model. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", "intend", "believe", "may", "will", "should", "can have", "likely" and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to launch our air taxi service and the growth of the urban air mobility market generally; our ability to produce aircraft that meet our performance expectations in the volumes and on the timelines that we project; the ability to secure additional contracts with U.S. governmental agencies cannot be guaranteed; the competitive environment in which we operate; our future capital needs; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards relating to our aircraft; our reliance on third-party suppliers and service partners; uncertainties related to our estimates of the size of the market for our service and future revenue opportunities; and other important factors discussed in the section titled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 27, 2025, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 8, 2025 and August 7, 2025, and in future filings and other reports we file with or furnish to the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates and beliefs as of the date of this release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
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