Scalable, Long-Endurance, VTOLs For Variety Of Sea And Land Missions

Lockheed Martin Sikorsky announced the introduction of the Nomad family of various sized twin proprotor VTOL UASs. The Nomad combines the runway independence of helicopters with speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft that can cruise on the wing for extended periods, and is scaled in size to meet the needs of a variety of land or sea-based missions.

Sikorsky had announced in March 2025 the successful extended flight test of its 10.3-ft wingspan prototype Nomad 50 aircraft. Sikorsky is now building its Nomad 100 aircraft, a Group 3, 18-ft wingspan variant that will have its first flight in the coming months.

Rich Benton, Vice President and General Manager of Sikorsky said, “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.

“The resulting Nomad family of drones will be adaptable, go-anywhere, runway independent aircraft capable of land and sea-based missions across defense, national security, forestry and civilian organizations. Nomads are a force multiplier, complementing the missions of aircraft such as the Black Hawk to retain the strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific and across broader regions.”

Key features of the Nomad family of aircraft include:

• Designed for reconnaissance, light attack, contested logistics, and more.
• Can be scaled from a Group 3 (from 56-1,320 pounds) to Group 4/5 (from 1,320 pounds and up).
• Powered by fuel-efficient hybrid-electric drivetrains, with the larger variants utilizing a conventional drivetrain.
• MATRIX technology developed by Sikorsky Innovations and DARPA, an open system that enables seamless integration with both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. MATRIX has been shown viable across applications such as aerial firefighting, logistics resupply, and advanced aerial mobility.

Dan Shidler, Director of Advanced Programs said, “Nomad represents new breakthroughs for Sikorsky and the next generation of autonomous, long-endurance drones. 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.”

FMI:  lockheedmartin.com/