Electric air taxis by Joby Aviation will be located on November 12th, 2023 at Downtown Manhattan Heliport, New York City.
Roselchen | Reuters
Joby Aviation The giant of defense l3harris The partnership was announced on Friday, allowing the next generation of military crafts to be developed and fly autonomously.
The partnership brings together expertise in Joby’s hybrid vertical takeoff and landing, or military systems and certification for VTOL, aircraft and L3.
The company is expected to start testing this fall, with operational demonstrations expected to continue in 2026, according to the release.
“Conflicts like Ukraine in Russia are really changing the way people think about low-altitude aviation in general,” Job Executive Chairman Paul Siarra told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan. “I felt it was especially important to have something that could move from demonstrations to deployment possibilities so quickly.”
Jon Rambeau, president of L3 Harris’ integrated mission system, initially said the project will focus on use cases such as air surveillance, reconnaissance and contested logistics applications.
“We’re targeting… the broader government exercises that military services regularly hold will see if some of those use cases can be adapted to those bigger exercises,” Rambaud told Brennan.
The announcement comes as government spending is under scrutiny, with the US military strengthening its battlefield management technology and adding artificial intelligence with self-driving cars and drones.
“I think the branches are questioning whether the right approach to low-altitude support is a rough $30 million apache or whether it’s small, inexpensive and autonomous. It has the ability to adapt to flexible payloads,” says Sciarra.
Joby is known for its commercial electric air taxis. The company is working towards its first electric vertical takeoff and landing at the end of June, or to Ebtor, the UAE, with the aircraft being delivered to the 2026 launch.
The new military vehicle equipped with the L3 will be developed with gas turbines, according to the release, based on Joby’s S4 Craft.
Still working on approval of the aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration, Joby recently announced a manufacturing expansion, hoping to double production at the California Hub.
Joby’s stock has grown by more than 100% this year. L3Harris stocks have grown 30% so far in 2025.
