Joby Aviation buys Resonant Sciences for $500M to grow defense arm

Joby Aviation has reached an agreement to acquire Resonant Sciences for $500 million in cash and stock, according to a regulatory filing posted Tuesday — the electric air-taxi developer’s latest move to push deeper into the defense sector. Ohio-based Resonant Sciences, which makes radio-frequency and sensor systems, will become a dedicated defense business under Joby. Resonant’s co-founder and CEO, J. Micah North, will lead the new division, which will absorb Joby’s existing defense projects, including development of a turbine-electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft and an autonomy technology stack. The new division is meant to let the rest of Joby Aviation focus on certifying, manufacturing, and launching its electric air taxi.

California-based Joby is best known for developing a network of electric urban air taxis meant to shuttle people and goods over short distances, but it has also pursued defense work that has become more public over the past two years. Last year, Joby signed an agreement with defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to “explore opportunities” for a new aircraft class — specifically a gas-turbine hybrid vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that can fly autonomously for defense applications, based on Joby’s current S4 aircraft platform. Joby has focused on developing the S4 with an all-electric powertrain, but in 2024 it demonstrated, under a government contract, a hydrogen-electric hybrid version that flew 521 miles — more than two times farther than its battery-electric prototype.

The Resonant acquisition gives Joby a money-making business: Resonant has reported $100 million in trailing 12-month revenue and access to classified U.S. government programs, and its radio-frequency and sensing technology complements Joby’s own eVTOL aircraft. Joby has used this revenue-generation-through-acquisition strategy before — developing, certifying, and mass-producing eVTOLs is an expensive, years-long process, the kind of frontier tech that excites shareholders until they start wondering when the money will arrive.

Last year, Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility’s helicopter rideshare business for about $125 million, gaining instant access to a network of 12 terminals in key markets including New York City, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty Airport, and both sides of Manhattan and Wall Street. It also delivered much-needed revenue: Joby reported $38.6 million in second-quarter revenue, $36.2 million of which came from Blade.

Why it matters

Joby is using acquisitions to buy near-term revenue and government access while its core eVTOL product still works through certification — a hedge against the years-long gap between developing frontier aircraft and actually selling flights.