Sikorsky unveils Nomad 100 Fast Pack, a containerised kit of four VTOL drones

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has introduced the Nomad 100 Fast Pack, a self-contained kit that packs four vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft, their control software and support equipment into a single 20-foot shipping container. The company announced the product on 12 October 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The idea is to let forces put an autonomous air capability on the ground, or on a ship, without a runway or a large support team. According to Sikorsky, the container also carries mission-command software, power, communications and sustainment equipment.

How the kit is meant to work

In the planned configuration, two of the four aircraft can be ready for a mission in under 15 minutes, and the other two within four to six hours, the company says. The aircraft can launch from naval vessels, from tactical vehicle staging areas or from improvised landing zones. After a mission, the container can be repacked, loaded onto a compatible transport vehicle and moved to a new site.

Depending on how it is configured, the system is described as suited to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting, to light attack, and to contested logistics, meaning resupply in places where the enemy can interfere with movement. Rich Benton, vice president and general manager of Sikorsky, said that military leaders are challenging industry to expand the inventory of uncrewed aircraft.

Background

The Nomad 100 belongs to Sikorsky’s Nomad family of runway-independent VTOL drones for land and sea use. It flies with Lockheed Martin’s MATRIX autonomy software and, in the company’s words, combines the vertical lift and hover of a helicopter with the speed, range and endurance of a fixed-wing aircraft. Sikorsky states that the Nomad 100 was developed with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration (EVADE) programme.

The release does not name a customer, contract or order, and it gives no price, payload, range, endurance or delivery dates. It refers only generally to the U.S. armed forces. The product is therefore, for now, an offer to the market rather than a programme of record.

The launch comes as several defence firms push compact, containerised systems built around low-cost uncrewed aircraft. Geopolitiki has recently reported on a related trend in counter-drone equipment, such as the partnership described in MBDA and Fortem extend counter-drone partnership, offering DroneHunter and the new FireThorn interceptor.