Joby Aviation and Defense Contractor L3Harris Tests Autonomous Aircraft

Joby Aviation is often cast as a developer of commercial electric aviation taxis, but the publicly-published company has pursued another truck into the market through its long-standing relationship with the US Department of Defense. It is likely that years of research and development with the Department of Defense are being paid off right now.

The company said Thursday it signed a contract with defense contractor L3Harris Technology to “explor the opportunity” to develop new aircraft classes, particularly autonomously flying gas turbine hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for defense applications.

The Gas Turbine Hybrid VTOL is based on Joby’s current S4 aircraft platform. The company focuses on developing the S4 using an all-electric powertrain, but last year it demonstrated a hydrogen-electric hybrid version that flew 521 miles, more than twice the battery-electric prototype under a government contract.

The agreement with the L3Harris is exploratory, but we hope that future flight testing and operational demonstrations will lead to a military contract with DOD. Joby said flight tests will begin this fall, and an operational demonstration is expected in 2026.

Joby has been developing Type 1 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration for many years for all electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft used to close short-distance passengers in urban areas.

We have also been working with DOD for nearly 10 years during the development stage. Through that relationship, Joby has participated in what it takes to reach the “finish line” with DOD, Paul Sciarra, executive chairman of Joby, told TechCrunch.

“The scope was particularly important,” he said. “We knew we had to do that shift.”

Sciarra added that it is also important to demonstrate what is called “platform mission.” It’s a way to combine aircraft with the right sensors, autonomy, communications and payloads to provide a clear use case for DOD.

“We have two options: build something like this yourself, or find an incredible partner who already has a deep understanding of these use cases and many proven technologies,” he said.

That’s where l3harris comes in.

Jon Rambeau, president of L3HARRIS’ integrated mission system, said the new vertical lift technology will allow teams to be ejected by long-range crew members from various missions. In this case, gas turbine hybrid VTOL aircraft can be used for low-altitude support missions, including contested logistics, electronic warfare, and counter-manager aircraft systems, or C-UAS, Sciarra said.