Joby Completes U.S. Defense Exercise with Autonomous Superpilot™ Flight Technology

(Santa Cruz, California) Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) announced today that as part of the Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC), a Department-Level Exercise led by Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), it conducted a successful demonstration and validation of its Superpilot™ autonomous flight technology over the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii, logging more than 7,000 miles of autonomous operations across more than 40 flight hours.

Photo of the Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft, which was integrated with Joby’s Superpilot™ autonomous flight technology, in flight during its demonstrations as part of the Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC) courtesy of Joby Aviation.

Per today’s press release from Joby, the autonomous flights were managed from ground control stations at various locations throughout the exercise, primarily from more than 3,000 miles away from Joby’s California base at Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam. A safety pilot was also onboard the aircraft during demonstration flights to monitor the system’s performance.

The deonstrations consisted of Joby’s Superpilot™ – integrated into a Cessna Caravan 208 platform – being tasked with a variety of missions. Highlights included the following, according to Joby:

• “Mission Readiness: Superpilot demonstrated the capability to execute rapid cargo deliveries, hub-and-spoke logistics, inter-island transport, dynamic retasking, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) profiles.
• Operational Versatility: Flights were successfully conducted in all classes of airspace (B, C, D and uncontrolled) and under both visual and instrument flight rules.
• Airlift Capabilities: Superpilot piloted a total of 7,342 miles over 43.7 hours. Within the exercise, the aircraft completed six sorties, flying for 14 hours covering 2,416 miles. The campaign also included a roundtrip ferry flight of 4,925 miles, with Superpilot successfully handling a Pacific Ocean crossing, landing and taxi at destination airports.”

Photo of the fully autonomous Cessna 208 Grand Caravan, which was integrated with Joby’s Superpilot™ autonoumous technology, courtesy of Joby Aviation via Vertical Magazine.

Superpilot was part of Joby’s June 2024 acquisition of the autonomy division of Xwing, Inc., which was executed with the goal of accelerating development of autonomous flight technology in defense and commercial applications.

As part of Joby’s long-term strategy to develop dual-use (commercial and defense) technologies, Superpilot showcased its ability to provide an autonomous solution for the U.S. government’s urgent need for light intra-theater airlift, according to today’s release from Joby.

The Superpilot™ demonstrations are especially significant for the following two reasons, per Joby:

• (1) The Department of Defense has requested $9.4 billion in its FY26 budget to advance autonomous and hybrid aircraft, and the successful REFORPAC exercise positions Joby to compete for upcoming Department of Defense programs.
• (2) The work with defense partners can inform integration of autonomous capabilities into Joby’s commercial air taxi platform. 

“The exercise demonstrated Superpilot’s ability to operate in complex, real-world scenarios with the precision and reliability demanded by the U.S. government,” said Greg Bowles, Chief Policy Officer at Joby. “This is a testament to our decade-long collaboration with the Department of Defense and a significant step toward deploying our dual-use technologies in the field.” 

Lt. Col. Jonathan Gilbert, AFWERX Prime division chief, said: “AFWERX has partnered with Joby’s team for several years with increasingly complex development and demonstration efforts of autonomy to support contested logistics missions. REFORPAC was an opportunity to demonstrate the technology in a realistic environment and highlight the potential impact of these autonomous systems. The lessons learned from this exercise participation are vital to guiding our focus as we continue development of affordable technologies that support the needs of our Airmen.”

Per Joby, as the U.S. Air Force currently faces a challenge in efficiently supporting low-volume, high-urgency and high-risk deliveries in large operational theaters, the REFORPAC exercise validated that a light cargo aircraft, equipped with Superpilot, can meet this demand, while freeing up larger, more costly aircraft for other missions.