L3Harris Technologies, a major defense company, has joined hands with Joby Aviation, known for its flying taxis, to create a special aircraft that can take off and land vertically. This new aircraft is meant for use by the military.
The aircraft uses a gas turbine hybrid system, which means it combines electric power with a gas engine. It’s built to fly at low heights and can either be controlled by a pilot or fly on its own without anyone inside.
The teams plan to start flight testing the military version of the aircraft in late 2025. If everything goes well, they hope to show its full capabilities in real missions by 2026.
Joby Aviation has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense for about 10 years now.Their objective is to develop aircraft suitable for both civilian and military applications. One of their key models, the Joby S4, is already designed to carry one pilot and four passengers in cities as an air taxi.
This new project builds on Joby’s past experience and uses similar technology in a more advanced way. According to L3Harris, this kind of next-gen flying tech could support many types of missions, including ones with both crewed and uncrewed aircraft working together.
