Five on Friday: Joby, NuAir and Merlin
Joby Aviation is partnering with defence contractor L3Harris Technologies to assess development of hybrid-electric VTOL for defence.
Specifically, Joby and L3Harris will look to build a gas turbine hybrid VTOL with piloted and autonomous capability. Flight testing is expected to start this autumn with demonstrations slated for 2026.
Joby is developing a gas turbine hybrid powertrain for its current S4 aircraft platform.
The Californian company becomes the latest eVTOL developer to jump on the ‘hybridisation for defence’ bandwagon, following similar announcements from Archer and Vertical Aerospace.
Vertical CEO Stuart Simpson told The Prof G Podcast earlier this week that he signed off on Vertical’s defence investment 18 months ago, but, had geopolitical tensions and defence spending not come to the fore so fervently earlier this year, Vertical would likely not have announced until late 2025.
As the old saying goes “if you see a bandwagon, it’s too late”. That said, judgement on the success of these plays is not limited to fielding a certified capability (although that must come top of the list), further funding and technology maturation for the company as a whole could both seen as positives, amongst others, even if less tangible from the outside looking in.
Meanwhile, widespread beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations in the US got a step closer this week after the FAA issued a letter of acceptance to surveillance-as-a-service provider NuAir.
The acceptance letter means the FAA deems the New York-based company’s ground-based surveillance infrastructure meets the standards required for routine BVLOS drone operations in national airspace.
Now any commercial organisation wanting to use uncrewed aerial systems can apply to use NuAir’s infrastructure thereby accessing a pre-approved safety case, said the company.
The area, centred around Syracuse in central New York, spans nearly 2,000 square miles and is home to 350,000 households and more than 30 municipalities. To date, NuAir has completed about 6,000 flights across the approved zone, which has been gradually expanded since 2016.
The latest milestone was reached using the FAA’s Near-Term Approval Process (NTAP). According to the regulator, NTAP is a process by which the FAA evaluates the “safety mitigation value” of a service, “so that operators can receive safety credit for using that service when seeking waivers or exemptions”. The NTAP is not a certification process.
NuAir is part-funded by New York’s chief economic development agency Empire State Development and the State of New York. Hope Knight, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development, said: “NuAir has been transformative in New York’s efforts to grow our foothold in the uncrewed aircraft systems industry.”
Staying with uncrewed, or in some cases reduced-crew systems, Merlin revealed this week it is partnering with Northrop Grumman to integrate its Merlin Pilot flight control system into Northrop’s Beacon testbed ecosystem.
Merlin is one of six companies selected to join the Beacon project. Other participants include Autonodyne, Shield AI and Applied Intuition.
Using a Scaled Composites Model 437 Vanguard demonstration aircraft as a base platform, Northrop said the Beacon project aims to demonstrate the rapid integration of autonomous flight technologies. Test flights are scheduled for later this year.
A Merlin spokesperson told us: “Operating in some of the most complex and demanding environments, these programmes allow Merlin to rigorously test and mature our autonomy systems under real-world, mission-critical conditions.
“Defence applications validate Merlin’s technology at the highest level, but also build a foundation for broader commercial and civil aviation applications.”
Elsewhere, large drone developer Pyka confirmed a firm order for 60 of its Pelican aircraft from Brazil’s Synerjet, making it the first authorised dealer in the Latin American nation. Financial details were not disclosed. Deliveries are set to begin this month.
Finally, Israeli unmanned traffic management company Airwayz and Florida-based MySky Eco have agreed to jointly develop and demonstrate a fully autonomous drone platform capable of BVLOS operations. The project is co-funded by Space Florida and the Israel Innovation Authority.
