Mentioned:
One of the giants of defense tech is making a new bet one vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. And they’re partnering up with a publicly traded company to do it.
What’s happening:
- Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) and L3Harris (NYSE: LHX) have formed a new partnership to develop a new gas turbine hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for defense purposes
Why it matters:
- This is the first time ever that Joby Aviation has directly done a deal with a major publicly traded defense contractor
Going deeper:
- The new aircraft will be built on top of Joby Aviation’s S4 platform and leverage a gas turbine hybrid design instead of an all electric powertrain to provide longer flight range for military operations
- L3Harris has publicly stated they will integrate their leading edge military hardware, sensors and autonomous technology into the new aircraft
The intrigue:
- This is not the first time that a defense tech company has made a bet on vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, with Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) previously making waves when they cut a deal with Anduril to develop a new type of aircraft purpose built for combat
