American company Joby Aviation, a developer and manufacturer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, will deliver the first vehicles of this kind to the United States Air Force (USAF) in 2024.
The delivery will be part of the company’s expanded contract with the Department of Defence, known as “Agility Prime”, now valued at 131 million dollars.
See also: Department of Defense bets on Joby eVTOL
Joby Aviation will deliver up to nine eVTOL to the USAF
As part of the deal, Joby Aviation will deliver and operate up to nine of its five-seat eVTOLs. According to the company, this will allow the force and other federal agencies to gain first-hand experience of the performance and potential applications of its aircraft.
The first two are scheduled to be delivered to Edwards Air Force Base in southern California early next year. They would then become the first aerial vehicles of this kind at a United States military base. The eVTOLs will be used to demonstrate a number of potential logistics, passenger and cargo use cases.
A few days ago, four USAF pilots visited Joby Aviation’s facility in Marina, California, and remotely operated the prototype developed by the company. The test was part of a larger government programme to study this type of mobility and its possible uses in the near future.
“The Agility Prime programme is a remarkably successful example of how public-private partnerships can deliver trailblazing technology at speed”, said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby. “We are grateful for the support of the program and for the United tates government’s wider commitment to global leadership in this important new sector”, he added.
The Joby Aviation eVTOL
The all-electric aircraft is designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers. According to the company, it has a range of up to 150 miles (240 kilometres) per battery charge. It can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour (320 kilometres per hour).
In 2020, Joby Aviation became the first developer to obtain military airworthiness approval for an eVTOL aircraft. In May 2022, the company received its Air Carrier Certificate (Part 135) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
