Joby Teams Up With L3Harris For Defense Technology

<p class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mt-6 mb-6 text-base font-sans leading-1&period;5"><strong class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mb-6 text-base">SANTA CRUZ – <&sol;strong>Joby Aviation and L3Harris Technologies announced they are exploring opportunities to develop a new aircraft class for defense applications&period; The gas turbine hybrid vertical take-off and landing &lpar;VTOL&rpar; aircraft is designed for low-altitude missions and offers the versatility of being optionally piloted&comma; enabling both crewed and fully autonomous operations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mt-6 mb-6 text-base font-sans leading-1&period;5">The collaboration with Joby’s existing commercial aircraft development program and leading manufacturing capabilities&comma; combined with L3Harris’ proven expertise on platform missionization including sensors&comma; effectors&comma; communication and collaborative autonomy&period; Flight testing is expected to start this fall with the companies planning to perform operational demonstrations during government exercises in 2026&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mt-6 mb-6 text-base font-sans leading-1&period;5">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The next-generation of vertical lift technology enables long-range&comma; crewed-uncrewed teaming for a range of missions&comma;” said Jon Rambeau&comma; President&comma; Integrated Mission Systems&comma; L3Harris&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We share a vision with Joby to deliver urgently-required innovation by missionizing VTOL aircraft for defense needs&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mt-6 mb-6 text-base font-sans leading-1&period;5">JoeBen Bevirt&comma; founder and CEO&comma; Joby Aviation&comma; added&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We have worked closely with the Department of Defense over the past decade to give them a front row seat to the development of our dual-purpose technologies&comma; and we’re now ready to demonstrate and deploy it&period; Our country depends on companies like ours moving at pace&comma; and we have the team&comma; the technology and the platform to do just that&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"CosmicText transition duration-333 mt-6 mb-6 text-base font-sans leading-1&period;5">Joby is actively developing a gas turbine hybrid powertrain for its current S4 aircraft platform and has demonstrated aircraft-level autonomy following its acquisition of the autonomy division of Xwing in June 2024&period; It has previously demonstrated under government contract that its platform can be hybridized to deliver longer-ranges&comma; showcasing an industry-first 561 mile hydrogen-electric hybrid flight in June 2024&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;