The GAF Nomad is a utility aircraft produced by the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) of Australia in Melbourne. The twin-turboprop, high-wing aircraft has a retractable gear and came in two variants: the initial N22, followed by the stretched N24. Supported by the Australian Government, design work began in the mid-1960s, and it made its maiden flight on 23 July 1971. Despite some export sales and commercial operations, sales were not sufficient and production stopped in 1985.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the Australian Army and the Australian Customs Service were major users. The Australian military withdrew almost all of its remaining Nomads during the 1990s amid reports of safety concerns. By the end of the 1990s only a small number of aircraft remained in regular use in Australia.

GippsAero acquired the Australian type certificate for the Nomad in 2008 and announced plans to produce it again as the GA18. The project proceeded slowly and was ultimately stopped, with complete aircraft manufacturing at the facility ending in late 2020. In June 2025, aircraft production recommenced with the GA8 Airvan, and factory support for the Nomad continues.

During 1965, development of what would become the Nomad commenced at GAF, although a considerable number of projects and design studies, including a compact twin-engined utility aircraft proposed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) in the 1950s, had been conducted beforehand. In 1966, GAF contacted the Australian Army, seeking feedback on their proposal, which was of a single-engined turboprop-powered aircraft that could replace existing assets such as the American Cessna 180 and the Swiss Pilatus PC-6 Porter. The Army informed the company that, based on its combat experiences in Vietnam, the service believed a twin-engine configuration would be more useful to them. In the civil sector, an envisioned crop-dusting variant, viewed by GAF as a counterpart to the successful de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, was pitched to potential agricultural operators; they largely favoured using two engines, and noted that it ought to possess greater endurance and "hot-and-high" performance.

Based on feedback, GAF completely redesigned their proposal. This redesign was initially referred to as Project N; its basic configuration was of a twin-engined, multi-purpose transport aircraft. An original intention was that the entire rear fuselage would be hinged so that it could be swung open, providing generous rear-loading access to accommodate its target payload of a compact road vehicle; this choice necessitated the adoption of a raised cruciform tail. The new design was viewed as being a direct rival of existing products on the market from manufactures such as Britten-Norman, Shorts and de Havilland Canada. It was intended to be suitable for use by both local and overseas customers in both civil and military markets. According to aerospace periodical Flight International, it was apparent even at an early stage of the project that the programme could not be realistically accomplished without financial assistance from the Australian government, partly because the nation lacked a large domestic market.

During January 1970, the Australian government decided to provide $A3.2 million to GAF for the production of a pair of flight-capable prototypes along with a single static airframe for testing. The government was keen both to foster the growth of the nation's indigenous aviation industry and specifically to GAF to establish itself with a new aircraft in order to maintain aircraft production at the company, which was then set to end after the scheduled termination of license-produced Mirage III fighters. Furthermore, the twin-engined aircraft was viewed as a somewhat of a natural successor to the earlier DHA-3 Drover, a trimotor passenger airliner which had been built by de Havilland Australia.

On 23 July 1971, the first prototype (registered VH-SUP) flew for the first time. By this point, the aircraft had been designated as the N2, and was being aimed at both the military and civilian markets. The designation N22 was to be used initially for military-orientated Nomads; this model, which was subsequently re-designated as N22B during production, was designed to perform military support operations, including aerial surveillance, medical evacuation, and other ancillary mission types. Furthermore, the N24A designation was assigned to a lengthened version of the Nomad; this was marketed as the principal commercial version.

On 5 December 1971, the second prototype performed its first flight. Reportedly, flight testing went relatively smoothly. A minor issue affecting the retraction of the undercarriage was quickly rectified, while directional stability was augmented by a 30 per cent increase in the area of both the fin and rudder. However, the programme was affected by a political dispute between the Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) over whether the Army should continue to operate fixed-wing aircraft; this argument motivated the Australian Government to delay authorising production, causing several key figures of GAF's design team to resign in protest. During May 1972, production of the Nomad was finally authorised at a cost of $A13 million (£6.4 million); by this point, the Army had emerged from the row with success, being allocated 11 aircraft out of the first batch of 20 Nomads. At the same time, the conversion of one of the prototypes to represent a new stretched variant was also authorised.