Joby Widens US Air Force Partnership
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Joby Aviation will deliver two aircraft to MacDill Air Force Base in 2025 as part of the company’s AFWERX Agility Prime contract with the U.S. Air Force.
MacDill AFB is home to the U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command, and units from the Air Mobility Command, along with numerous logistics-oriented units. Personnel will test and train with the aircraft based at MacDill AFB, on base and in the surrounding area.
Joby delivered its first aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base in California in September 2023, with a second aircraft expected to be placed on the base this year. At Edwards, the Joby team is working closely with the 412th Test Wing on testing and experimentation that will inform future operational testing at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida.
Joby’s Agility Prime contract includes the provisioning of up to nine aircraft total to the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. In 2020, Joby became the first eVTOL developer to receive military airworthiness approval for its pre-production prototype aircraft.
At MacDill AFB, Joby will be working directly with DoD operational units for the first time, enabling units to carry out representative logistics missions and test use cases in personnel transport, casualty evacuation, and support of security forces. Initial evaluations have demonstrated that the low maintenance requirements and operating costs, high speed, and low acoustic footprint of eVTOL aircraft like Joby’s can enable a diverse array of DoD use cases. Joby will continue to train USAF pilots and maintainers, and other government partners, on this new category of electric aircraft.
“This work will provide Joby with valuable early operational experience, while providing the USAF with firsthand understanding of the performance of our aircraft and its potential applications,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby.
Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.
U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army aviators, ground crews and program managers have made multiple visits to Joby’s manufacturing and flight test facilities in Marina, California, for ongoing flight training and mission analysis regarding potential logistics, medical, and personnel transport applications of the aircraft.
