Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has unveiled the Nomad™ family of long-endurance, runway-independent drones, building on the successful flight tests of a novel rotor blown wing VTOL prototype. This future family of aircraft features a unique twin proprotor design that merges the vertical takeoff, hover, and landing capabilities of a helicopter with the high speed and extended range of a fixed-wing airplane for efficient cruising.
A key characteristic of the Nomad family is its scalable design, which can be sized from a compact Group 3 Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) up to a platform with the footprint of a Black Hawk helicopter. This adaptability allows the drones to serve a wide range of land and sea-based missions for defense, national security, and civilian organizations, including reconnaissance, light attack, and contested logistics.
These versatile aircraft are operated using Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ autonomy technology, an open system that enables seamless integration and fully autonomous mission execution. Propulsion is predominantly provided by fuel-efficient hybrid-electric drivetrains, with larger variants utilizing a conventional drivetrain. This combination of runway independence and advanced autonomy is designed as a force multiplier, intended to complement crewed aircraft like the Black Hawk and provide a strategic advantage, particularly in regions like the Indo-Pacific.
Following the successful flight tests of the prototype Nomad 50, Sikorsky is now building the larger Nomad 100, a Group 3 UAS with an 18-foot wingspan expected to have its first flight in the coming months.
