Hanneke Weitering is a writer and editor with AIN covering advanced air mobility and new flight technologies. She became an aviation journalist and joined the AIN team in the summer of 2022 after reporting on spaceflight and astronomy for six years at Space.com. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in science, health, and environmental reporting at New York University&#039;s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. After spending several years in the Pacific Northwest, she has returned to the Knoxville area.

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Regent Craft, a Rhode Island-based company developing electric-powered seagliders for coastal transportation, has launched a new product line geared toward maritime defense operations. This product line will include a fully autonomous version of the company’s Viceroy seaglider, a 12-passenger hydrofoiling wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vessel it is developing for commercial operations.
Announcing the new Regent Defense business unit at the Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit on July 16, the company said its electric seagliders could “support the U.S. and its allies in countering the growing maritime national threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region.”&nbsp;
According to Regent, electric seagliders are suitable for a broad range of maritime defense missions, including high-speed logistics, search-and-rescue and medevac operations, as well as surveillance and reconnaissance. The Viceroy has a payload capacity of 3,500 pounds with up to 750 cubic feet of cargo space, and it can travel at speeds of up to 160 knots.
Initially, Regent Defense plans to produce both crewed and autonomous military variants of the all-electric Viceroy model, followed by a hybrid-electric option with increased range. On purely battery-electric power, the Viceroy will have a 160 nm range, and using a hybrid-electric powertrain could extend that to 1,400 nm, the company claims&nbsp;
In addition to a fully autonomous version of the Viceroy, Regent plans to introduce a new hybrid-electric WIG craft a quarter the size of the Viceroy. Called the Squire Seaglider, this uncrewed and fully autonomous vessel will have a payload capacity of 50 pounds and will travel at speeds of up to 70 knots with a range of more than 100 nm, according to Regent.

“Regent is proud to be a dual-use company, and we’re committed to advancing our Regent Defense work to equip the American warfighter with an urgently needed mobility solution that gives the U.S. and our allies a strategic edge,” said company co-founder and CEO Billy Thalheimer. “At the same time, we’re helping to revitalize American manufacturing by building these vessels here at home, creating high-tech jobs and restoring American competitiveness on the global stage.”
The company partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in 2023 to evaluate seaglider technology for defense logistics operations. Earlier this year, it received a $10 million contract extension to demonstrate use cases for contested logistics operations. U.S. defense prime <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/news-article/2023-03-22/lockheed-martin-backs-sea-glider-developer-regent-strategic-investment">Lockheed Martin invested in Regent</a> in 2023 and offered the manufacturer access to its facilities and expertise in developing seagliders for military applications.
A full-scale Viceroy prototype has been conducting sea trials in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay since March, and Regent is <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2025-03-21/regent-submits-seaglider-approval-plan-us-coast-guard">certifying it through the U.S. Coast Guard</a>. In January, the company began construction on a 255,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Rhode Island’s Quonset Business Park, where it aims to start assembling the first Viceroys in 2026. It is targeting the first deliveries in early 2027.
Regent claims to hold a $10 billion commercial backlog for its Viceroy seaglider as well as the 100-passenger <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/news-article/2022-05-12/hawaiian-airlines-agrees-invest-regents-monarch-seaglider">Monarch seaglider</a> that it aims to bring into commercial service before 2030. That backlog includes a mix of deposit-backed orders and provisional sales agreements with civil operators in multiple countries, including U.S. commuter airline <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/news-article/2021-12-03/us-commuter-airline-orders-20-regents-all-electric-seagliders">Southern Airways Express</a>, South Florida’s <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2025-05-14/urbanlink-orders-20-more-viceroy-electric-seagliders-regent">UrbanLink</a>, UME Shipping with plans for cargo operations in the Red Sea, Ocean Flyer in New Zealand, and Croatian ferry operator Split Express.
Last week, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced it is ending its Liberty Lifter project to develop a large amphibious aircraft for military applications. Work, which started in 2022, was stopped before proceeding to earlier plans to build a technology demonstrator for flight trials.
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Regent Craft, a Rhode Island-based company developing electric seagliders, has launched a new product line geared toward maritime defense operations.

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