While Nomad drones’ specs and capabilities have yet to be disclosed, these UAVs are expected to pave the way for future models.
Drone warfare has become widely popularized in recent years. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, state and non-state actors alike are utilizing the unparalleled benefits that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide. These small aerial weapons are cheaper to produce, easier to manufacture, and simpler to use than some of their counterparts, making them a no-brainer for military use. Earlier this month, Sikorsky revealed that a whole new family of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAVs was underway. According to the manufacturer, all of these upcoming drones feature a common tail-sitting design with twin proprotors. Notably, this new Nomad series of UAVs is quite large in size. The largest upcoming Nomad will reportedly be roughly equivalent to the size of the S-70 Black Hawk helicopter.
“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,” Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager, stated when referring to the drone series. “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.” In terms of mission readiness, the Nomad UAVs are being designed to be capable of performing intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, and search-and-rescue, among other missions. According to its manufacturer, the Nomad drone platform will be powered by hybrid-electric drivetrains, which are particularly fuel-efficient. Larger Nomad models, like the Black Hawk-sized UAVs, will be powered by a conventional drivetrain.
Sikorsky also noted that a Group 4 iteration of the Nomad UAV will be planned, equipped with a whopping 500-pound payload capacity. This type of armament load could feature much more lethal weapons, including multiple Hellfire missiles or two small diameter bombs. While these formidable drones will certainly be put to use in the military/defense sphere, Sikorsky also plans to utilize these specialized aerial vehicles for the civilian side of the government. “We see these aircraft as being multi-role, but also multi-service, and we also see civilian applications, or commercial applications for these aircraft also being vertical takeoff and landing. They would be ideal for shipboard operations with the Navy or the Marine Corps,” Bentley said. “We could use these for spotting wildfires, for wildfire suppression operations, or they could be used for humanitarian assistance operations.”
While the exact specs and capabilities of the Nomad drones have yet to be disclosed, these UAVs are expected to pave the way for future models. The US Navy and Air Force are banking on the role of specialized UAVs for next-generation platforms. Both the F/A-XX and Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programs encompass highly autonomous UAVs.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
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