Joby and the US Government Kickstart the Air Mobility Revolution

Feb 08, 2022 — For the last five years, Joby’s progress toward the creation of an electric aerial ridesharing service has benefited from close partnership with the US government through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Rapid contracting and access to testing resources accelerated our efforts to mature and scale our technology, and the government gained important first-hand insight into an emerging technology class as well as opportunities for early adoption — helping to position the United States as the global leader in the eVTOL industry.

Joby’s relationship with DIU began in 2016, prior to test flights of the company’s first full-scale technology demonstrator. As the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) sole organization focused exclusively on discovering and scaling critical commercial technologies, DIU quickly saw the potential of our aircraft to revolutionize the way we move people and cargo for both commercial and government purposes.

DIU has a strong track record for identifying disruptive technology companies and conducting deep due diligence on experimental products that have potential government application. As a result, when DIU signed a contract with Joby to allow observation of flight testing activities and report on the capabilities of electric propulsion, it validated the potential we saw in our technology.

The early DoD interest in Joby’s capabilities through DIU was profound for the future of electric flight. With uninterrupted access to testing facilities, we were able to conduct over a thousand test flights across multiple sub- and full-scale prototypes, enabling rapid iteration and validation of our design. Access to DoD expertise, feedback, and facilities has and will continue to be an invaluable resource towards developing and certifying the Joby aircraft for broad DoD and commercial use.

As we successfully executed our contracts with DIU and matured our aircraft, Joby expanded our government partnerships to include the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program. Through this program, the Joby aircraft received the first-ever military airworthiness authorization given to an eVTOL aircraft.

We are incredibly grateful for the organization’s support and proud to be a “graduate” of DIU’s pipeline as we continue to move toward commercialization. With two pre-production prototypes granted flight approval from both the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Air Force, Joby has a clear path to bringing a new form of air mobility to the world.