Joby Aviation, Inc. 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.
The start of flight testing comes just three months after Joby announced the aircraft concept alongside a new partnership with L3Harris Technologies, 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.
JoeBen Bevirt, CEO and Founder of Joby said: “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 pas.
“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.
Bevirt added: “The magic of dual-use technology is that it creates value in both directions.
“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.”
Jason Lambert, President, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, L3Harris said: “The future battlefield relies on unmanned systems augmenting manned platforms, and our partnership with Joby accelerates missionized VTOL aircraft to directly support defense requirements.
“L3Harris has delivered thousands of missionised aircraft, and our focus is scaling rapidly to bring these commercial VTOL aircraft to the fight.”