Joby Aviation and L3Harris Technologies said Wednesday they have conducted their first test flight of an autonomous hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which they hope to sell to the Defense Department to use operationally.
The electrically powered VTOL builds on Joby’s previous experiments with a fully electric “air taxi” aircraft, which it delivered to the Air Force for testing in September 2023, the company said in a statement.
The flight, which took place Friday at Joby’s facility in Marina, California, comes three months after Joby announced it was teaming up with L3Harris to develop the aircraft. Joby said that L3Harris will modify the commercial version of the VTOL aircraft to make it suitable for defense applications, including by adding capabilities such as sensors, communications systems and technology to allow collaborative autonomous flight alongside a manned aircraft, also known as “loyal wingman” operations.
Other defense uses could include carrying out logistical missions in a contested environment and low-altitude support.
“The future battlefield relies on unmanned systems augmenting manned platforms, and our partnership with Joby accelerates missionized VTOL aircraft to directly support defense requirements,” Jason Lambert, L3Harris’ president for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said in the release. “L3Harris has delivered thousands of missionized aircraft, and our focus is scaling rapidly to bring these commercial VTOL aircraft to the fight.”
The aircraft’s ability to take off and land vertically will allow it to deploy from operating locations where a traditional runway is unavailable, Joby said.
This VTOL uses Joby’s SuperPilot autonomous flight technology to fly the aircraft, along with a hybrid turbine powertrain for greater range and payload capability, the company said. Joby acquired SuperPilot as part of a June 2024 acquisition of Xwing Inc.’s autonomy division.
Earlier this year, Joby took part in the military’s REFORPAC exercise in the Pacific Ocean region to demonstrate SuperPilot’s usefulness. A conventional Cessna 208 aircraft, loaded with the SuperPilot technology, flew autonomously for more than 40 flight hours across more than 7,000 miles around Hawaii, Joby said. The Cessna, while operating autonomously, was managed mainly by personnel more than 3,000 miles away at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
Joby said the companies are on track to start flying operational demonstrations in 2026 proving the VTOL aircraft can carry out government missions. Until then, the aircraft will continue ground and flight testing at the Marina facility.
“It’s important 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, chief executive 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.”
This technology can also be sold to civilian and commercial customers, Joby said, and its applications can include longer range air taxi services.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
