Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has introduced its Nomad family of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aerial systems designed for long-endurance, runway-independent missions across land and sea, according to the company.
The Nomad family builds on Sikorsky’s successful 2025 flight test of the Nomad 50 prototype, which demonstrated the efficiency and reliability of its rotor-blown wing design.
The twin proprotor configuration combines the vertical lift of a helicopter with the range and speed of a fixed-wing aircraft. Operated through Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy technology, the aircraft will primarily use hybrid-electric propulsion, with larger variants featuring a conventional drivetrain.
“We use the term ‘family’ to point to a key attribute of the design; its ability to be scaled in size from a small Group 3 UAS to the footprint equivalent of a Black Hawk helicopter,” said Rich Benton, Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager. “The resulting Nomad family of drones will be adaptable, go-anywhere, runway independent aircraft capable of land and sea-based missions across defence, national security, forestry and civilian organisations.”
Sikorsky confirmed that work is underway on the Nomad 100, a Group 3 aircraft with an 18-foot wingspan and a first flight expected in the coming months. The company said the scalable Nomad line will serve missions including reconnaissance, light attack, and contested logistics.
According to Sikorsky, MATRIX autonomy allows Nomad drones to integrate seamlessly with rotary and fixed-wing platforms and has already been demonstrated in firefighting, logistics resupply and advanced mobility roles.
“Nomad represents new breakthroughs for Sikorsky and the next generation of autonomous, long-endurance drones,” said Dan Shidler, Director of Advanced Programs.
“We are acting on feedback from the Pentagon, adopting a rapid approach and creating a family of drones that can take off and land virtually anywhere and execute the mission – all autonomously and in the hands of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen.”
