The Nomad household of drones can be based mostly off the novel rotor blown wing VTOL UAS which Sikorsky has been creating and testing.
Sikorsky has introduced a brand new household of long-endurance, runway-independent drones, known as Nomad, designed for reconnaissance, mild assault, contested logistics and extra. The brand new system can be based mostly off the novel rotor blown wing vertical take-off and touchdown (VTOL) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) which Sikorsky has been creating for over a yr.
As we beforehand reported right here at The Aviationist, Sikorsky introduced it proved the design in March 2025. By flying in each the helicopter and airplane flight modes, the corporate mentioned it validated the superior management legal guidelines used to fly the unmanned plane, which takes off vertically like a helicopter after which tilts your entire airframe to place the wings stage and fly like a set wing plane.
Nomad
As a part of the announcement, Sikorsky mentioned the beforehand unnamed prototype is the Nomad 50, with a ten.3 ft wingspan. The corporate is now constructing the Nomad 100, which has been described as a Group 3, 18 ft wingspan variant of the prototype, with first flight anticipated within the coming months.
“We use the time period ‘household’ to level to a key attribute of the design; its potential to be scaled in dimension from a small Group 3 UAS to the footprint equal of a Black Hawk helicopter,” mentioned Wealthy Benton, Sikorsky vp and basic supervisor. “The ensuing Nomad household of drones can be adaptable, go-anywhere, runway impartial plane able to land and sea-based missions throughout protection, nationwide safety, forestry and civilian organizations. Nomads are a pressure multiplier, complementing the missions of plane such because the Black Hawk to retain the strategic benefit within the Indo-Pacific and throughout broader areas.”
Within the press launch, Sikorsky particularly talked about that the Nomad household could be scaled from a Group 3 UAS (56 kilos to 1,320 kilos) to Group 4/5 (1,320 kilos and up). The drones predominantly use fuel-efficient hybrid-electric propulsion, whereas future bigger variants will characteristic a standard drivetrain.
Sikorsky highlights that the dual proprotor design combines the flexibility of a helicopter with the velocity and vary of a fixed-wing airplane. The truth is, a Nomad plane can take off, hover, and land vertically, plus cruise on the wing for prolonged intervals, getting access to confined areas whereas nonetheless retaining the cruise efficiency of a set wing plane.
Moreover, as talked about by the corporate when it validated the prototype, Nomads are operated through Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy expertise. The corporate has already demonstrated MATRIX throughout a variety of functions, together with aerial firefighting, logistics resupply, and superior aerial mobility, and says it can enable seamless integration of Nomad with rotary and fixed-wing plane.
“Nomad represents new breakthroughs for Sikorsky and the following era of autonomous, long-endurance drones,” mentioned Dan Shidler, director of Superior Applications. “We’re performing on suggestions from the Pentagon, adopting a fast strategy and making a household of drones that may take off and land just about wherever and execute the mission – all autonomously and within the fingers of Troopers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen.”
Work in Progress
In response to the studies by Aviation Week and Breaking Protection, Sikorsky is already to start with levels of creating a Group 4 Nomad, together with ongoing discussions with potential clients. These weren’t talked about, however they’re prone to be a part of the U.S. army, which might use such platform to function from austere areas within the Indo-Pacific.
“Group 4 is admittedly on our drawing boards [in the] preliminary design evaluate. We’re discussing it with a few clients. There isn’t a contract,” mentioned Igor Cherepinsky, the director of Sikorsky Improvements. “We’re going to go construct one [and] reveal it anyway, someday inside a yr.”
Erskine “Ramsey” Bentley, Director of Technique and Enterprise Improvement for Sikorsky Superior Applications additional detailed the goal markets for the Nomad household. In response to Bentley, the Group 3 Nomad is aimed on the brigade-level reconnaissance mission which the U.S. Military carried out with the RQ-7 Shadow, whereas the Group 4 variant is aimed on the division/corps-level mission of MQ-1C Gray Eagle.
“We see these plane as being multi-role, but additionally multi-service, and we additionally see civilian functions, or business functions for these plane additionally being vertical takeoff and touchdown. They’d be perfect for shipboard operations with the Navy or the Marine Corps,” Bentley mentioned. “We might use these for recognizing wildfires, for wildfire suppression operations, or they may very well be used for humanitarian help operations.”
