---
title: Air Taxi Maker Joby Is Buying a Military Radar Business for $500 Million
description: Joby Aviation will pay $500 million for Resonant Sciences, a Dayton maker of radar and electronic warfare systems, and run it as its defense arm.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-12T08:38:56.134Z
updated: 2026-08-12T08:38:56.141Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/joby-resonant-sciences-500-million-defense
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/joby-autonomous-aircraft-hawaii-141381.webp
categories: Business
content_type: News
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Joby Aviation has agreed to pay $500 million for Resonant Sciences, a Dayton, Ohio maker of military radar, electronic countermeasures and communications systems, buying a defense manufacturer outright rather than growing one of its own. The electric air taxi developer set out the terms in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 11, three days after signing the agreement.

Cerberus Capital Management is the seller. Once the sale closes, Resonant becomes Joby's dedicated defense business and keeps its own name.

## Most of the Price Is Cash, With Stock Set Aside for Resonant's Managers

Joby is acquiring all of Strix Holdings, the parent company that owns Resonant Sciences, from a Cerberus entity and from a group of Resonant's own managers. The [base price of $500 million](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1819848/000162828026055505/joby-20260808.htm) will move with adjustments for cash, debt, transaction costs and working capital at closing, and most of it is payable in cash. The managers' portion, equal to 40 percent of the price owed to them, comes in Joby shares priced at $7.4752, the average price of the stock on the New York Stock Exchange over the 20 trading days before the agreement was signed. Joby expects that share element to come to about $50 million. The sale still needs regulatory clearance.

## A $750 Million Share Sale Program Opened the Same Day

On August 11 Joby also signed an equity distribution agreement with Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Securities, Allen and Company and BofA Securities, letting it sell up to $750 million of common stock over time at prices and volumes it sets itself. The banks take a commission of up to 3 percent on what they sell, and Joby filed the prospectus supplement the same day under a shelf registration it put in place in October 2024. The company has not tied the program to the acquisition. It reported $629.9 million in cash and equivalents and $1.634 billion in short term investments at June 30.

## Resonant Has Nearly Doubled Its Technical Workforce Since 2023

Resonant Sciences was founded in 2015 and designs and manufactures radio frequency mission systems for US national security customers, with work spanning low observability technology, sensing, electronic countermeasures, communications and autonomous systems. Cerberus funds invested in 2023 through the firm's Supply Chain platform, alongside co-founder and chief executive J. Micah North. Cerberus says the company has since expanded its manufacturing capacity, nearly doubled its technical workforce and moved several technologies out of development and into production. Cerberus was founded in 1992 and manages about $72 billion across credit, real estate and private equity.

"Cerberus understood what makes Resonant different, our culture, our focus on the warfighter, and our drive to move quickly and solve difficult problems," North said. He said the partnership let the company keep its speed while putting in place the foundation to run more programs at once.

## The Deal Follows a 7,000 Mile Autonomous Flight Exercise in the Pacific

Joby has been working toward defense revenue for some time. In September 2025 the company said it had flown its Superpilot autonomous flight technology during Resolute Force Pacific, an exercise led by Pacific Air Forces, logging more than 7,000 miles of autonomous operations across more than 40 flight hours over the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii. Crews ran the flights mostly from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, more than 3,000 miles away, with a safety pilot aboard. Joby said the work addresses the military's need for light airlift between island bases, and that the Department of Defense asked for $9.4 billion in its 2026 budget for autonomous and hybrid aircraft.

## FAQ

**Q: What is Resonant Sciences?**
A Dayton, Ohio company founded in 2015 that designs and manufactures radio frequency systems, including radar, electronic countermeasures and communications equipment, for US national security customers.

**Q: Why would an air taxi company want a defense radar maker?**
Joby already flies for the Pentagon, including an autonomous flight exercise with Pacific Air Forces in 2025, and buying Resonant gives it an existing defense manufacturing business and its customer relationships instead of a standing start.

**Q: When is the acquisition expected to close?**
In the first half of 2027, once regulatory reviews and the usual closing conditions are satisfied.

**Q: Is the $750 million share program paying for the deal?**
Joby has not said the two are connected. The program lets the company sell stock gradually at its own discretion rather than raise money in a single offering.