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Deployment

Joby S4 at Edwards AFB

Six-tilt-rotor electric aircraft; 5-seat (1 pilot + 4 passengers), 200mph top speed, ~150-mile range; FAA certification in progress.

Joby S4 by Joby Aviation · Operated by United States Air Force · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified


Machine-readable surfaces

In May 2023, Joby Aviation delivered its first conforming eVTOL aircraft to the United States Air Force under the AFWERX Agility Prime program, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Agility Prime is the Air Force program to accelerate commercial air mobility vehicles for military utility. Joby was selected in 2020 as one of the first Agility Prime partners. The delivered aircraft is a full-scale, conforming production representative Joby S4; the Air Force evaluates it for potential uses including troop transport, medical evacuation, and logistics at forward operating bases. This was the first eVTOL aircraft to be formally delivered to any branch of the US military. Joby's S4 received an FAA special airworthiness certificate in 2022; commercial passenger service certification was pending as of 2025.

Key facts

Programme
AFWERX Agility Prime (Air Force eVTOL evaluation partnership)
Delivery date
16 May 2023 (Joby press release date; delivery at Edwards AFB)
Aircraft type
Joby S4 (first conforming aircraft delivered to any US military branch)
Evaluated uses
Troop transport, MEDEVAC, forward-base logistics
Programme status
Active evaluation; commercial certification separate track
Trust tier
Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified
Last updated
2026-06-12
Model
Joby S4
Company
Joby Aviation
Location
Edwards AFB
Operator
United States Air Force
Status
pilot
First seen
2023-05-16
ID
4f58c8b1-9ccc-4651-9622-77bf75a64804

Sources (2)

  1. https://www.jobyaviation.com/news/joby-delivers-aircraft-to-the-us-air-force/ · 2023-05-16
  2. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/joby-aviation-delivers-an-air-taxi-prototype-to-the-air-force-for-testing/ · 2023-05-16
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-12

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-12

Maturity + lifecycle

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: aerial

Sources by quality tier

1
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
1
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Joby S4 at Edwards AFB.

Common questions

What is the Joby S4 deployment at Edwards AFB?
Joby S4, built by Joby Aviation, is recorded as a deployment at Edwards AFB on the DEPLOY registry. United States Air Force operates the deployment.
Who operates Joby S4 at Edwards AFB?
United States Air Force operates this deployment as a customer of Joby Aviation, the manufacturer of Joby S4.
When did the Joby S4 deployment at Edwards AFB go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting May 16, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Joby S4 deployment at Edwards AFB?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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