Sikorsky’s Nomad 100 completes initial flight-testing phase for DARPA’s EVADE program

FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 22, 2026 — Sikorsky has completed initial ground and flight testing of its Nomad 100 uncrewed aerial system in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration (EVADE) program. The company positions the milestone as a step toward fielding uncrewed systems for rapidly evolving, contested environments, with an emphasis on next-generation autonomy and crewed‑uncrewed teaming.

“Nomad 100’s ongoing flight testing reflects our commitment to advancing autonomous technology while delivering safe and reliable mission capabilities that equip customers to fill critical operational gaps,” said Rich Benton, vice president and general manager, Sikorsky. “Nomad will serve as part of a crewed-uncrewed team complementing missions anywhere from austere forward operating bases to ship decks and unimproved landing zones.”

Sikorsky plans to move Nomad 100 into an intensive flight test campaign at a government facility, where it will replicate a range of multirole missions.

The Nomad 100 is described as a variant of Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing architecture, pairing the vertical lift and hover of a helicopter with the speed, range, and endurance of a fixed‑wing aircraft. A twin prop‑rotor system enables vertical takeoff and landing, hover, wing‑borne cruise, and runway‑independent operations in all weather conditions over land and sea. The aircraft is designed to operate as part of a team of crewed and uncrewed platforms for integrated, full‑spectrum missions.

Sikorsky characterizes Nomad as its entry into the UAS market, combining rotorcraft and autonomy expertise with AI, advanced manufacturing, and electric propulsion to offer a high‑performance, lower‑cost, scalable VTOL platform.

DARPA selected Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomous technology to be integrated across all five platforms performing under EVADE. Sikorsky’s other fully autonomous platforms include the S‑70UAS U‑Hawk and the hybrid electric demonstrator (HEX), both enabled by MATRIX. The company says MATRIX has logged more than 1,000 flight hours, completed over 500 tests and demonstrations, trained more than 100 operators from the Department of War and firefighting communities, and been integrated on more than 20 platforms.

Lockheed Martin describes its autonomy roadmap as moving beyond basic “self‑fly” or “self‑drive” toward operator‑commanded systems that can plan, execute, and adapt complex operations in dynamic environments.