US Marine Corps extends Regent seaglider collaboration
March 27, 2025
The US Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) has extended its collaboration with Regent Craft, continuing to explore defence capabilities and mission applications of the US startup’s all-electric seaglider.
The renewed agreement builds upon the recently completed initial contract, valued at $4.75 million, with the new collaboration estimated at $10 million. During the first phase, key milestones included demonstrating the technical feasibility of seagliders, starting with the testing of a quarter-scale prototype and culminating in last month’s sea trials of the full-scale ‘Viceroy’ craft.
Now, alongside continuing to explore the full-scale craft’s technical capabilities, the parties will also consider defence-specific operations as part of ongoing evaluations. “The second phase of our agreement will demonstrate their use cases for contested logistics operations in the maritime domain, fulfilling a critical national security need,” confirmed Regent VP of government relations and defense Tom Huntley.
Operating exclusively over water, the seaglider can travel in three ways: floating on its hull, hydrofoiling above the waves, or ‘flying’ in ground effect Able to travel up to 180mph on routes of up to 180 miles, the Viceroy eliminates the need for potentially vulnerable runway infrastructure. Flying within one wingspan of the water, the seaglider occupies a unique position of being below radar but above sonar, whilst its electric propulsion system minimises its thermal and infrared signature.
The initial agreement with the US Marine Corps was signed in October 2023, with Regent co-founder and CEO describing Regent as “a proud dual use company”. Retired Marine Corps General Robert Neller, member of Regent advisory board, added at the time that Regent craft could “provide the ability to distribute multiple capabilities in the littorals, including logistics, command and control, and ISR”.
With preliminary testing underway, Regent expects to make the first wing-in-ground-effect flight of its full-scale craft towards the middle of this year. Having raised more than $90 million in funding to date, Regent states its pre-order book currently sits at over $9m in value from customers around the world.
