This event marks the first time the public has seen the Viceroy Seaglider prototype fly in ground effect live. Seaglider vessels are high-speed hydrofoiling wing-in-ground effect (WIG) crafts, a new category of maritime mobility.
“We proved the technology and the demand; now we build," said Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and CEO, REGENT. "With $340 million raised to date and 1 Seaglider Way officially open, we're moving from prototype to production and putting Seaglider vessels in customers' hands. This is what reindustrializing America looks like: a cutting-edge facility, a first-rate team, and a product the world wants."
The factory opens in response to growing defense contracts and commercial demand across the Viceroy and Squire Seaglider product lines.
The newly opened facility will serve as the global production hub helping REGENT to fulfil its growing commercial order book across six continents and support the company’s growing defense business, including $20 million in contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps. The layout has been designed to support phased capacity increases as production scales, without compromising safety or certification objectives.
The event also signals the official start of Seaglider manufacturing operations. The 255,000-square-foot Seaglider Manufacturing Facility, located at 1 Seaglider Way in Quonset Business Park, RI, will deliver the first Viceroy Seaglider vessels to customers as early as late 2027 and build up to rate production of 75 Viceroy vessels and 300 Squire Seaglider drones per year.
The site includes dedicated areas for structural assembly, wing and hydrofoil integration, battery and systems installation, and water-based test and acceptance operations, with direct waterfront access for continued sea trials.
The location of the manufacturingfacility offers proximity to Rhode Island’s skilled maritime and manufacturingworkforce. REGENT has pledged to create up to 750 over the next decade and hasalready reinvested $71.5 million into the local economy.
Rhode Island's Quonset Business Park, with its storied legacy in defense manufacturing and maritime industry, provides the ideal home for this next chapter. The site was formally renamed 1 Seaglider Way earlier this year, a recognition by local officials of the facility's significance to the region's future.
Furthermore, REGENT is aligned with thebroader focus on rebuilding the American maritime industrial base and thefuture of American Shipbuilding. Through partnership with the Department of Warand aligned with the Trump Administration’s initiatives on manufacturing,restoring American maritime dominance, and the Maritime Action Plan, REGENT ishelping strengthen economic, military, industrial, and national security forfuture generations.
Guests boarded ferries on Narragansett Bay to watch REGENT Craft's two Seagliders vessels in action: the full-scale Viceroy prototype and the Squire Seaglider drone. During the on-water demonstration, both vessels showed all three modes of operation: float, foil, and fly. The event marked the fifth flight of the Viceroy prototype.
