Last year, Kitty Hawk and Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $2m from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help America’s military make faster use of emerging technologies. Neither company, nor the DIUx, disclosed the funding at the time.
The website for Cora, Kitty Hawk’s experimental air taxi, emphasizes its role in solving urban transportation challenges: “Cora is about the time you could save soaring over traffic. The people you could visit. The moments that move you.”
The Pentagon will not be taking possession of a military air taxi any time soon. The FAA airworthiness certificates for both vehicles specify: “No weapons may be added to the [unmanned aircraft].” – The Guardian
Featured image from video screen capture
