USAF's first eVTOL to be delivered early 2024

On 25 April 2023, Joby Aviation announced that they received a US Department of Defence (DoD) contract to deliver nine Electric Air Taxi Electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Joby’s contract with the USAF is now valued up to USD131 Million, followed by a USD55 million extension. This includes provision of up to nine Joby eVTOL aircraft.

It is expected that the first two aircraft will be delivered to Edwards AFB (CA) to be tested and evaluated by the 412th Test Wing and the USAF Test Pilot School (TPS).

Joby Aviation will deliver up to nine of its five-seat, low-noise, zero operating emissions aircraft. This, providing the USAF, and, eventual, other federal agencies, with firsthand experience of the performance of Joby’s aircraft and its potential applications.

Delivery of the first two eVTOL Electric Air Taxi aircraft to Edwards is expected by early 2024 and the aircraft will be used to demonstrate a range of potential logistics use cases. This will include cargo and passenger transportation.

Joby’s partnership with the DoD began more than five years ago and provides the company with access to testing facilities, early operational experience for government customers, as well as a partial offset to its research and development costs.

Photo by Joby Aviation