Electric aviation is an expensive promise. Joby Aviation has spent years developing its S4 eVTOL aircraft, navigating the labyrinthine FAA certification process, and building infrastructure for urban air mobility. The company has raised billions, gone public via SPAC, and still faces the fundamental challenge that plagues every advanced air mobility startup: revenue is years away while expenses arrive monthly.
Joby’s answer has been increasingly clear: build a profitable side business to fund the main event. The company’s $500 million acquisition of Resonant Sciences represents the most significant step in that strategy yet.
The Ohio-based defense contractor, which specializes in radio frequency and sensor systems, brings more than technology to Joby. It brings $100 million in trailing twelve-month revenue, a working business model, and crucially, access to classified U.S. government programs. For a company burning cash to certify an entirely new category of aircraft, those are assets that buy time.
What Joby Is Actually Buying
Resonant Sciences isn’t a flashy acquisition. It’s not a consumer brand or a software platform. The company makes the kind of specialized defense electronics that rarely makes headlines but consistently generates government contracts. Its radio frequency and sensor systems are the building blocks for sophisticated military applications, including the kind of autonomous systems Joby wants to develop.
Under the deal, Resonant becomes Joby’s dedicated defense division. The company’s co-founder and CEO, J. Micah North, will lead this new unit, which will absorb Joby’s existing defense projects. Those include turbine-electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft development, plus autonomy technology that could eventually allow uncrewed operations.
The structure is telling. Joby isn’t just acquiring a technology portfolio; it’s acquiring an operating business with proven revenue, established government relationships, and leadership that understands the defense procurement process. Resonant’s classified program access is particularly valuable, opening doors that typically take years to unlock for new entrants.
For the rest of Joby Aviation, the acquisition serves a clear purpose: clear the deck. With defense operations consolidated into a separate division, the core team can focus entirely on certifying, manufacturing, and launching the S4 electric air taxi. No distractions, no competing priorities, just the singular mission of getting the aircraft to market.
A Pattern of Strategic Acquisitions
This isn’t Joby’s first acquisition aimed at generating near-term revenue. Last year, the company bought Blade Air Mobility’s helicopter rideshare business for approximately $125 million. That deal gave Joby immediate access to 12 terminals in key markets including New York City, JFK Airport, Newark Liberty Airport, and Manhattan locations on both the East and West sides and Wall Street.
The Blade acquisition delivered instant revenue. Joby reported $38.6 million in second-quarter revenue, with $36.2 million coming from Blade operations. That’s real money flowing in while the eVTOL business remains pre-revenue.
The Resonant Sciences acquisition follows the same playbook but on a larger scale. Instead of rideshare infrastructure, Joby is buying defense revenue and capabilities. The $500 million price tag is substantial, but the combination of cash and stock suggests Joby structured the deal to preserve liquidity while still securing the asset.
The Defense Connection
Joby’s relationship with the defense sector has deepened significantly over the past two years. Last year, the company signed an agreement with L3Harris Technologies to explore developing a new class of aircraft: a gas-turbine hybrid VTOL capable of autonomous flight. This aircraft would be based on Joby’s S4 platform but with a very different powertrain.
The hybrid capability isn’t theoretical. In 2024, Joby demonstrated a hydrogen-electric hybrid version of its aircraft that flew 521 miles, more than double the range of its battery-electric prototype. That kind of performance has obvious military applications, where range and payload often trump pure emissions reduction.
The Resonant acquisition appears designed to accelerate this defense work while keeping it operationally separate from the commercial air taxi business. The radio frequency and sensing capabilities Resonant brings are complementary to Joby’s existing work on autonomous systems and hybrid propulsion.
Why This Matters for Joby’s Future
The conventional narrative around eVTOL companies has been one of immense promise and immense financial risk. These are capital-intensive businesses with long development timelines and uncertain regulatory pathways. Many investors have grown impatient with the “show me the revenue” phase of the market.
Joby’s acquisitions of Blade and now Resonant Sciences address that impatience directly. Both deals bring in actual revenue, not just future potential. Both give Joby operational infrastructure and customer relationships that would take years to build organically. And both provide a financial cushion that allows the company to continue investing in its core eVTOL development without the constant pressure of immediate profitability.
There’s a deeper strategic logic here as well. Defense contracting provides a more predictable revenue stream than consumer aviation. Government programs, while complex to win, offer multi-year contracts, reliable payment schedules, and scale that can support manufacturing infrastructure. If Joby can build a significant defense business, it effectively creates a captive customer for its manufacturing capacity, reducing the risk of building factories that might otherwise sit idle.
The Broader Implications
Joby’s strategy represents a shift in how advanced air mobility companies think about their business models. The original vision was simple: build electric aircraft, get them certified, and operate urban air taxi networks. That vision remains, but the path to profitability now looks more circuitous.
What’s interesting is how this model mirrors the early days of commercial spaceflight. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin relied heavily on government contracts to fund their development while pursuing commercial markets. The defense and NASA business provided the revenue base that made ambitious commercial programs possible.
Joby appears to be pursuing a similar dual-track strategy. The defense division provides revenue, capabilities, and government relationships that strengthen the company overall. The commercial air taxi business remains the long-term goal, but it no longer has to be the only source of revenue in the interim.
This approach has practical implications for the eVTOL industry. Companies that can’t generate near-term revenue will struggle to maintain investor confidence through the certification process. The combination of development timelines, regulatory hurdles, and capital intensity means that pure-play air taxi companies face an existential risk.
What Comes Next
The Resonant Sciences acquisition is likely the largest defense-focused deal Joby will make, but it probably won’t be the last strategic acquisition. The company has demonstrated a willingness to use its stock as currency for assets that bring immediate value, a approach that makes sense given its public market valuation and the premium on time in this industry.
For Resonant Sciences, the deal provides access to Joby’s resources, technology, and public market platform. For North and his team, it offers a path to scale their defense business with a partner that shares their focus on advanced vertical lift technology.
For the broader industry, Joby’s approach provides a template: advanced air mobility companies don’t have to be purely commercial from day one. The defense market offers a viable path to revenue, capability development, and manufacturing scale that can ultimately support commercial operations.
Joby Aviation’s acquisition of Resonant Sciences is a bet that defense revenue can fund commercial aviation’s future. It’s a pragmatic strategy from a company that understands the financial reality of its industry. While the core eVTOL program remains the ultimate goal, building a profitable defense business in parallel provides the cash flow, capabilities, and runway to get there.
The question now is execution. Integrating Resonant Sciences into Joby’s operations, maintaining its government relationships, and leveraging its capabilities for Joby’s defense projects will require careful management. If successful, Joby will emerge as a dual-use company with a profitable defense business funding a transformative commercial aviation program. That’s a very different company than the one that went public in 2021, and potentially a more resilient one.
