Photo: Joby Aviation
California-based eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft developer, Joby Aviation, has been working with defense agencies for over five years, bringing to the table its valuable and advanced technologies. Now the company announced that it just expanded its contract with the U.S. Air Force Agility Prime program, increasing its potential value by more than $45 million.
Agility Prime was launched by the Air Force in 2020 and it is the only all-electric passenger aircraft program in the U.S. Government. Its goal is to accelerate the development and adoption of VTOL technologies such as electric air taxis and the like.
Joby says that this contract widens its defense partnerships to also include the U.S. Marine Corps, which will participate in flight tests, use case exploration of the aircraft, emergency medical response applications, and more. In addition, the contract expansion has also drawn the attention of the Army and Navy, which are also starting to see eVTOL aircraft as a critical area of interest.
The new extension, which now increases the contract's total potential value to over $75 million, allows Joby’s partners to see first-hand the capabilities and potential of its VTOL aircraft in their future concept of operations, as stated by JoeBen Bevirt, the company’s CEO.
Two years ago, Joby Aviation became the first eVTOL developer to receive military airworthiness approval for its air taxi prototype. With a capacity of four passengers plus the pilot, Joby’s eVTOL aircraft claims a range of 150 miles (241 km) on a charge. It can fly at speeds of up to 200 mph (322 kph).
Thanks to its electric propulsion, it is emission-free and also has a very low acoustic footprint. Joby partnered with NASA recently to demonstrate how quiet its air taxi is, by conducting a series of flights and measuring its acoustic profile. Engineers got a noise level below 65 dBA both during take-off and landing, which is the sound level of a normal conversation. The air taxi proved to be even more silent during flight, with engineers reading just 45.2 dBA at a speed of 115 mph (185 kph) and an altitude of 1,640 ft (500 m).
Joby plans to launch its ridesharing service in 2024.
Joby says that this contract widens its defense partnerships to also include the U.S. Marine Corps, which will participate in flight tests, use case exploration of the aircraft, emergency medical response applications, and more. In addition, the contract expansion has also drawn the attention of the Army and Navy, which are also starting to see eVTOL aircraft as a critical area of interest.
The new extension, which now increases the contract's total potential value to over $75 million, allows Joby’s partners to see first-hand the capabilities and potential of its VTOL aircraft in their future concept of operations, as stated by JoeBen Bevirt, the company’s CEO.
Two years ago, Joby Aviation became the first eVTOL developer to receive military airworthiness approval for its air taxi prototype. With a capacity of four passengers plus the pilot, Joby’s eVTOL aircraft claims a range of 150 miles (241 km) on a charge. It can fly at speeds of up to 200 mph (322 kph).
Thanks to its electric propulsion, it is emission-free and also has a very low acoustic footprint. Joby partnered with NASA recently to demonstrate how quiet its air taxi is, by conducting a series of flights and measuring its acoustic profile. Engineers got a noise level below 65 dBA both during take-off and landing, which is the sound level of a normal conversation. The air taxi proved to be even more silent during flight, with engineers reading just 45.2 dBA at a speed of 115 mph (185 kph) and an altitude of 1,640 ft (500 m).
Joby plans to launch its ridesharing service in 2024.
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