Joby Aviation delivers first electric air taxi to Air Force for testing

Joby Aviation’s eVTOL aircraft. (Joby Aviation)

WASHINGTON — California startup Joby Aviation announced Monday that it delivered its inaugural electric air taxi to the Air Force, in what the company says is the first delivery of its kind in the United States.

The battery-powered and curiously-shaped six-rotor aircraft was delivered to the Emerging Technologies Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and could be the first of up to nine delivered to the government under the company’s contract. In its press release, Joby said the value of the company’s contract with the Pentagon is $131 million.

The aircraft was delivered six months ahead of schedule, according to the company, and was developed through the Air Force’s Agility Prime program. Sponsored by AFWERX, the service’s innovation arm, Agility Prime is partnering with numerous industry players to mature electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology. Like the tiltrotor V-22 Osprey, the Joby aircraft can take off and land vertically like a helicopter but rotate its propellers to fly like an airplane.

The company and the Defense Department say dual uses for new eVTOL aircraft, both civil and military applications, could help revolutionize aviation that’s heavily reliant on gas-powered propulsion and contributes an abundance of carbon emissions. Joby’s aircraft will have a range of 100 miles with a top speed of 200 miles per hour, the company said, and can transport four passengers alongside a pilot.

According to analysis firm GlobalData, the eVTOL market could be valued at over $22 billion in 2030, meaning in the future the Air Force could have a large, commercially-driven technology base to draw from. As part of the partnership with the Air Force, NASA will also experiment with the Joby aircraft for other domestic uses, which will focus in part on autonomy and is envisioned to fulfill a range of missions like cargo and passenger transport, according to the Joby release.

“The Agility Prime Program was stood up because we believe that there is a future with vehicles like the one you see behind me here,” AFWERX Director Col. Elliot Leigh said during an unveiling ceremony for the aircraft. “There’s a transformative vertical lift industry that’s emerging and we need to be partners in it.”

Lawmakers have been largely supportive of the Agility Prime program, though they have expressed concern that the Air Force doesn’t have a sufficient acquisition strategy in place. In their draft of the fiscal 2024 policy bill, House authorizers would direct the Air Force to submit a report detailing the service’s eVTOL acquisition strategy by March 2024, though they would also give the Air Force an extra $5 million for its Agility Prime efforts.