The U.S. Air Force has added funding to Joby Aviation’s autonomous flight contracts, bringing its total commitment to nearly $37 million and raising the ceiling on Joby’s operational testing contract to $50 million. The money is aimed at autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific.

Joby announced the expansion in a press release distributed on November 4, 2026, the same day it reported third quarter 2026 results. The agreements cover software integration and operational testing across two primary contracts with AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, and follow a cross-country tour in which a Joby-equipped Cessna Caravan logged 6,665 miles of autonomous flights, with landings in 11 states and integrated operations across 24 states.

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What the Air Force is paying for

According to the release, the funding supports autonomy software development and expanded operational testing in the Pacific as the Air Force moves toward sustained autonomous logistics operations. Joby said the new contracts will focus on follow-on Pacific military exercises, and that the funding also supports ongoing design updates and safety reviews to extend the autonomy stack’s capabilities.

The two figures in the announcement measure different things. Nearly $37 million is the Air Force’s total commitment, while $50 million is a ceiling on the operational testing contract. In the forward-looking statements attached to the release, Joby lists Air Force funding and appropriations limits, and the possibility that a contract ceiling is not reached, among the risks to its plans.

JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, called the expansion “a powerful validation of the adaptability of Joby’s autonomy stack.” He said the system was designed to be platform-agnostic and that the funding “will accelerate our path to sustained uncrewed operations.”

Kate Brown, Contested Logistics Tactical Airlift Lead at AFWERX, said the goal is to “sustain cargo operations in contested environments” while reducing risk to aircrews and preserving crewed aircraft for the missions that need them.

From Agile Flag to a coast-to-coast tour

The autonomy system at the center of the contracts came to Joby through its acquisition of the autonomy division of Xwing, which Joby completed in June 2024. In an August 26, 2024 release, Joby said that team flew a fully autonomous Cessna 208B Grand Caravan for more than 3,900 miles between military bases and public airports in California and Nevada during the Air Force’s Agile Flag 24-3 exercise, with a safety pilot monitoring the aircraft. The aircraft completed a fully autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing at each of 9 locations, after the Xwing team had logged more than 2,800 miles of fully autonomous flight in Agile Flag 24-1 earlier that year.

“The return on investment for the U.S. Air Force with this technology is significant,” Col. Max Bremer, Air Mobility Command Special Access Program management officer, said in that release, explaining that using the system for smaller cargo frees larger cargo aircraft for tasks such as moving large parts or engines. According to Joby, the system delivered critical replacement parts 24 hours faster than conventional logistics during Agile Flag, and during REFORPAC exercises in August 2025 an aircraft in Hawaii was operated remotely from Guam, nearly 4,000 miles away. AirPro News covered Joby’s role in the REFORPAC 2025 exercise at the time.

The cross-country tour, part of Joby’s 2026 Electric Skies campaign, took the aircraft from Concord, California, to North Carolina’s Outer Banks with zero control inputs from its onboard safety pilot. Joby said in its September 18, 2026 release that the 3,199-mile eastbound flight was supervised remotely from Joby’s Autonomy Headquarters in California and from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where the aircraft demonstrated representative military flight operations. AirPro News reported on the transcontinental autonomous flight the following day.

Across the full multi-leg tour, Joby said the aircraft performed fully autonomous taxiing, takeoffs, route navigation and landings under remote supervision from up to 2,537 miles away. The September release gave a remote supervision distance of up to 2,323 miles for the eastbound transcontinental flight. A ground-based operator monitors each flight, updates routes and communicates with air traffic control in real time, and the autonomy stack has completed more than 400 fully autonomous flights, according to Joby.

Where defense fits in Joby’s business

Joby is best known for its piloted electric air taxi, and the November 4 release presents the autonomy work as part of a dual-use strategy covering defense logistics, cargo and emergency response. Its autonomous J208 operations are part of the White House-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) in Utah and North Carolina. North Carolina tour flights supported the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s eLIFT-NC initiative for statewide healthcare logistics, and western flights contributed to the Utah Department of Transportation’s multi-state uFLY coalition, which is evaluating high-altitude, extreme-environment airspace integration for the FAA.

Joby also plans to acquire Resonant Sciences, with closing expected early in 2027. In its third quarter 2026 results release, filed with the SEC on November 4, Joby described Resonant Sciences as an EBITDA-positive defense technology company with more than $100 million in trailing twelve-month revenue and said the deal would significantly expand its defense business. Closing conditions for the planned Resonant Sciences acquisition remain outstanding, according to the filing.

The same results release put third quarter 2026 revenue at $55 million, primarily from Blade, the passenger transportation business Joby operates in the United States and Europe. Joby said it is in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification and has 17 aircraft in production.

Saab AB has successfully demonstrated autonomous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air combat capabilities using proprietary artificial intelligence agents integrated into a Gripen E fighter aircraft. The Swedish aerospace manufacturer officially unveiled the in-house technology on November 3, 2026, following approximately two years of airborne testing.

In a press release issued today, Saab confirmed the flight trials mark a critical step toward developing collaborative combat aircraft networks, where crewed and uncrewed systems operate as a coordinated force. The milestone underscores the company’s strategy to maintain sovereign control over its technology stack rather than relying entirely on external software providers.

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Sovereign AI development and the Sferical facility

Saab centralized its artificial intelligence development under the AI Fighter Pilot Academy (AIFPA), an infrastructure designed to create, train, and evaluate AI agents. The department driving this initiative, Saab Advanced Programs, features a workforce where 40 percent of the staff hold doctorate-level qualifications, according to Aviation International News.

Peter Nilsson, Head of Advanced Programs at Saab Aeronautics, emphasized the operational focus of the project.

“We have not only built our own AI agents, but we have also flown them. This demonstrates our capability to develop AI agents that can be integrated into operational fighter aircraft. The future of air combat will not be defined by individual platforms acting alone, but by networks of crewed and uncrewed systems working together as a coordinated force. Through our ownership of the entire technology stack, we are building the capabilities needed for that future.”

To support this development, Saab recently implemented the Sferical AI facility in Linköping, Sweden. Part-owned by Saab, Ericsson, and AstraZeneca, the sovereign computing asset utilizes Nvidia’s DGX SuperPOD architecture. Aviation International News reported that the facility is powered by 1,152 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB300 graphics processing units. This computing power allows Saab to run a one-hour flight test simulation one billion times in the same period, compared to just 1,200 times in a traditional central processing unit environment.

Speaking to Breaking Defense, Nilsson outlined the primary challenge facing the AIFPA following the successful flight trials.

“The harder question is how we turn this success into a dependable capability that can learn, improve, and be relevant over time… that is the true purpose of the AI Fighter Pilot Academy.”

Gripen E architecture and testing timeline

Saab, which employs approximately 31,000 people globally, utilized the Gripen E as the primary testbed for its AI agents. The aircraft features a software-defined architecture that segregates mission software from flight-critical functions. This separation enables the rapid integration and testing of new technologies without requiring dedicated experimental platforms or compromising safety of flight.

Prior to unveiling its in-house agents, Saab collaborated with third-party developers to validate the aircraft’s autonomous potential. On May 28, 2025, a Gripen E trials aircraft flew for the first time with the Centaur AI agent developed by Helsing, demonstrating initial BVR air combat capabilities.

Following these third-party trials, Saab transitioned to testing its proprietary agents. The company briefed journalists on the readiness of its in-house AI agents for operational deployment on October 30, 2026, before the official public unveiling on November 3, 2026.

Collaborative combat and future integration

The integration of artificial intelligence into combat aircraft aligns with a broader industry shift toward Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) concepts. Defence contractors globally are developing networks where crewed fighters command uncrewed loyal wingman platforms.

Saab is actively testing the sensor networks required for these collaborative operations. On October 28, 2026, Saab and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) successfully flight-tested an unmanned airborne early warning (AEW) capability, integrating Saab’s LoyalEye radar with an MQ-9B unmanned UAV.

Looking ahead, Saab anticipates that the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the Swedish Air Force will absorb these AI agents into real-world operations within months or single digits of years, according to Aviation International News. In the interim, Saab plans to expand the capabilities of its agents by flying them in a broader range of scenarios, establishing the foundation for future uncrewed platforms.

AirPro News analysis

Saab’s insistence on sovereign, in-house artificial intelligence development contrasts with competitors who heavily outsource to commercial technology firms. By owning the entire technology stack, Saab positions itself to offer highly secure, exportable AI packages free from third-party licensing bottlenecks or foreign regulatory hurdles. The massive investment in the Sferical AI facility indicates we are seeing a shift from experimental AI flight tests to industrialized, mass-scale tactical training for autonomous systems. If Saab can deliver on its timeline for Swedish Air Forces integration, the Gripen E could become one of the first Western fighters to field operational, combat-ready AI agents in frontline service.

The Hellenic Ministry of National Defense has signed a government-to-government agreement with Portugal to acquire up to six Embraer KC-390 Millennium multi-mission aircraft, making Greece the seventh European nation to select the Brazilian-built tactical airlifter.

Announced by Embraer in a press release on November 2, 2026, the contract includes three firm orders and options for three additional aircraft, with the first delivery to the Hellenic Air Force scheduled for 2027. The acquisition aims to modernize Greece’s airlift and air-to-air refueling capabilities while enhancing interoperability with allied North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces.

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Expanding the European footprint

The procurement is structured as a bilateral agreement between the governments of Greece and Portugal. By selecting the KC-390 Millennium, Greece joins a growing list of NATO and European Union member states transitioning to the jet-powered transport to replace legacy turboprop fleets.

Embraer views the Greek acquisition as a validation of the aircraft’s utility within the European defense architecture, where interoperability and multi-role flexibility are primary requirements for fleet modernization.

“We are honored by Greece’s decision to acquire the KC-390 Millennium. This choice underscores the trust and confidence that leading NATO members place in our aircraft,” Bosco Da Costa Junior, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, said in the company statement. “This very important milestone further solidifies the aircraft’s position as a preferred solution for military airlift among NATO allies.”

Da Costa Junior added that the aircraft’s proven performance, reliability, and cost efficiency make it an ideal choice for nations seeking to enhance their operational capabilities.

The KC-390’s development and market position

The Embraer C-390 and KC-390 Millennium is a medium-size, twin-engine jet-powered military transport aircraft designed to perform aerial refueling, troop transport, and cargo airlift. Development of the platform began in the mid-2000s. The Brazilian Air Force formally joined the project in 2009 by awarding a development contract to Embraer, a manufacturer with over 55 years of history and more than 9,000 aircraft delivered worldwide.

The aircraft completed its maiden flight in 2015, achieved civil certification in 2018, and entered military operational service in September 2019. It was developed specifically as a modern, jet-powered alternative to legacy turboprop tactical transports like the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

Greece is the seventh European nation to select the aircraft, joining Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. Outside of Europe, the aircraft has been acquired by the air forces of Brazil, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Colombia.

The program has seen significant momentum in recent months. On July 8, 2026, the Czech Air Force received its first C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, which featured a special three-tone gray camouflage designed by the Military History Institute in Prague. Shortly after, on July 23, 2026, Colombia signed a contract for two KC-390 Millennium transports, with one configured as a tanker to support its incoming Gripen fighter fleet.

AirPro News analysis

Embraer’s success in Europe with the KC-390 Millennium highlights a definitive shift in the tactical airlift market. For decades, the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules dominated this space. The KC-390’s jet-powered speed, payload capacity, and multi-mission flexibility have proven highly attractive to medium-sized NATO air forces looking to modernize. Securing Greece, a nation with stringent defense requirements and a focus on regional interoperability, validates Embraer’s strategy of leveraging early European adopters like Portugal to facilitate government-to-government sales. We expect this momentum to place increasing pressure on competing legacy platforms in upcoming recapitalization bids across the globe.