# Joby S4 at Edwards AFB: deployment

Canonical ID: `4f58c8b1-9ccc-4651-9622-77bf75a64804`

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_

- **Slug:** joby-s4-usaf-edwards-afb
- **Status:** pilot
- **Model:** [Joby S4](/models/joby-s4.md) (id: `86cfe12a-2f5c-46ef-8408-217d48643d03`)
- **Company:** [Joby Aviation](/companies/joby-aviation.md) (id: `b838c714-d7aa-4e4d-bcd7-5e4982724502`)
- **Location:** [Edwards AFB](/locations/edwards-afb-ca.md) (id: `ef83d383-6f76-4f7f-9790-71c140c9d373`)
- **Operator:** [United States Air Force](/companies/us-air-force.md) (id: `b271aba9-ecbd-417b-8e19-53152d14641b`)
- **First seen:** 2023-05-16T00:00:00.000Z

## Verification log (0, append-only)

_No verifications recorded._

## 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

## 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.


_API: GET /v1/robots/4f58c8b1-9ccc-4651-9622-77bf75a64804 · feeds: GET /v1/feeds?deploymentId=4f58c8b1-9ccc-4651-9622-77bf75a64804 · canonical URL: /deployments/joby-s4-usaf-edwards-afb_