VTOL drones: Sikorsky officially unveils unmanned Nomad family

Sikorsky has now officially unveiled its Nomad family – unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones that need no runway. Less than a year ago the company successfully demonstrated that a novel rotor-blown wing vertical take-off aircraft, an unmanned aerial system (UAS), is reliable and delivers the expected flight performance. With the VTOL drones, the manufacturer is now going public.

Using two proprotors, the concept combines what distinguishes helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft: the versatility of the former and the speed and range of the latter. Nomad aircraft take off vertically, land vertically and can hover; they then operate efficiently in horizontal flight. They are controlled by Sikorsky's Matrix autonomy technology. Propulsion is mostly hybrid-electric, while larger variants have a conventional engine.

Rich Benton, Vice President and General Manager at Sikorsky, explains the choice of words: “We deliberately speak of a ‘family’ because the design can be scaled flexibly – from a small Group 3 UAS up to the size of a Black Hawk helicopter.” He continues: “These Nomad drones are adaptable, independent of runways and can be deployed both on land and at sea – for military, security and civil missions. They act as a force multiplier that gives platforms such as the Black Hawk additional capabilities and secures the strategic advantage, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.”

VTOL drones: Nomad 100 approaches its maiden flight

Last March, the Nomad 50 prototype with a 3.1-metre wingspan was successfully tested. Sikorsky is currently building the larger Nomad 100, a Group 3 version with a 5.5-metre wingspan. It is scheduled to make its maiden flight in the coming months.

The Nomad VTOL UAS are designed for missions including reconnaissance, light attack and operations in contested logistics environments. Thanks to a modular architecture, they scale from the 25-kilogram Group 3 system up to the larger Group 4/5 classes. The Matrix technology was developed by DARPA and Sikorsky Innovations; as an open system it can be integrated seamlessly into both rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft. It has already been demonstrated successfully in aerial firefighting, logistics resupply and advanced air mobility.

Dan Shidler, Director of Advanced Programs at Sikorsky, puts the programme into context: “Nomad represents the next technological leap in autonomous, long-endurance aerial reconnaissance.” He adds: “We are responding directly to feedback from the US Department of Defense and pursuing an accelerated development approach to create a family of drones that can take off, land and carry out its mission autonomously almost anywhere – in the hands of soldiers, Marines, sailors and pilots alike.”