Sikorsky has introduced a kit that packs four autonomous aircraft and the equipment needed to operate them into a single 20-foot shipping container.
The Nomad 100 Fast Pack, announced on October 12, 2026, is designed to let military crews deploy drones from ships, vehicle staging areas and remote sites without a runway or extensive ground support.
Sikorsky said the planned configuration would allow crews to prepare two aircraft for missions in less than 15 minutes. The other two would be ready within four to six hours.
Along with the aircraft, the container holds mission-control software, communications equipment, power supplies and equipment to keep the drones operating. After a mission, crews could repack the container and move it to another location by truck.
“By packaging aircraft, mission command, communications, power and sustainment into a single containerized system, we are making it easier to move, employ and reposition VTOL UAS capability with urgency and flexibility,” said Rich Benton, Sikorsky’s Vice President and General Manager.
The Nomad 100 takes off and lands vertically and can hover like a helicopter, then transition to fixed-wing flight. It uses Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy technology.
Depending on the equipment selected by a customer, the drones could conduct surveillance and targeting missions, carry out attacks or deliver supplies in areas threatened by enemy forces, the company said.
The Fast Pack is a deployment package for the Nomad 100, part of Sikorsky’s family of uncrewed aircraft designed to operate from land or sea. The company says the kit would require few personnel and limited outside support, but did not specify crew numbers in the announcement.
Sikorsky developed the Nomad 100 with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under its Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration program.
The announcement did not provide a price or set a delivery date.