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REGENT Squire Seaglider USA-V Drone Shaped For Future U.S. Reconnaissance And Logistics In Contested Seas.
REGENT presented its autonomous Seaglider USA-V drone, Squire, to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Rhode Island on 9 February, outlining defense applications across contested maritime missions. The company argues the hybrid surface and low-altitude flight platform could close logistics, MEDEVAC, and ISR gaps in environments where traditional ships and aircraft face elevated risk.
REGENT’s leadership team met on 9 February with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his staff at the Seabee Museum in Quonset, Rhode Island, to present the company’s Seaglider technology and its defense application portfolio, including Squire, an autonomous Seaglider USA-V (Unmanned Surface and Aerial Vehicle) drone showcased on site. According to REGENT, the discussion focused on how Seaglider vessels could address operational gaps across contested logistics, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) in complex maritime environments, with Secretary Hegseth stressing the urgency of fielding mission-ready capabilities at speed, including for counternarcotics requirements.
REGENT unveiled its autonomous Seaglider USA-V drone to senior U.S. defense officials in Rhode Island, positioning the hybrid surface and low-altitude maritime platform as a rapid solution for contested logistics, ISR, and MEDEVAC missions (Picture Source: REGENT)
REGENT positions Seagliders as a distinct class of maritime mobility: hydrofoiling wing-in-ground effect (WIG) craft designed to operate over water within roughly a wingspan of the surface, combining aircraft-like transit speed with boat-like basing and handling. In this flight regime, REGENT Defense emphasizes a “low altitude, low signature” operating profile enabled by autonomous flight systems, intended to fly above sonar and below long-range radar horizons, while retaining the option to function across roles typically assigned to uncrewed surface vessels and uncrewed aerial vehicles.
Squire is presented as an uncrewed, autonomous Seaglider optimized around compact size and deployability for distributed operations. REGENT Defense lists Squire’s external dimensions at 13 feet in length, 5.5 feet in height, and an 18-foot wingspan. The platform is also described with an internally mounted payload bay sized at 14 inches long by 14 inches wide by 12 inches high, with a stated internal payload volume of 2,400 cubic inches, an arrangement aligned with mission packages that prioritize protected, low-drag carriage over external hardpoints for small sensors, communications payloads, or other modular kits.
From a performance standpoint, REGENT Defense specifies Squire’s foil speed at 35 knots, top speed at 70 knots, and range at 100 nautical miles. In operational terms, that speed-range profile is aimed at time-sensitive littoral missions where conventional small craft may be slower and more exposed, while many aerial systems can be constrained by launch-and-recovery infrastructure or endurance tradeoffs. In REGENT’s framing, Seaglider mobility is intended to compress decision-to-effects timelines for maritime task forces by moving people, supplies, or sensors rapidly between dispersed points without relying on large ports or runways.
During the Quonset briefing, REGENT Co-founder and CEO Billy Thalheimer, Co-founder and CTO Mike Klinker, and REGENT Defense General Manager Tom Huntley argued that Seaglider vessels can support warfighter missions, including contested logistics, MEDEVAC, and ISR in challenging maritime environments. The company’s defense narrative stresses a “flexible and survivable option” for moving critical materiel and information through threat rings, where speed, reduced signatures, and the ability to operate close to the sea surface are treated as key attributes for operating inside contested littorals.
REGENT links this operational pitch to a broader production and scaling plan anchored in Rhode Island. The company says it will manufacture Seaglider vessels at its Quonset headquarters, where a 255,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is coming online, intended to support scaled production while contributing to domestic industrial capacity for next-generation maritime systems. REGENT also states it has secured more than $10 billion in global commercial orders and has $15 million in contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps, while raising more than $100 million from investors that it names as including 8090 Industries, Founders Fund, Japan Airlines, and Lockheed Martin.
The 9 February Seabee Museum demonstration placed Squire at the center of REGENT Defense’s near-term message: a compact, autonomous WIG Seaglider intended to deliver rapid, low-observable maritime mobility for ISR, logistics, and casualty movement, while the company advances larger Seaglider variants and an industrial footprint aimed at higher-rate production. In REGENT’s view, the combination of high speed over water, modular payload capacity, and a low-altitude operating concept is designed to offer commanders another option for moving capability through contested littoral spaces where traditional surface craft, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft each face different risk and sustainment constraints.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.