Home Economy Economic Activity REGENT completes world’s first seaglider manufacturing facility in N.K.

REGENT completes world’s first seaglider manufacturing facility in N.K.

Updated 6:15 p.m.

By

PBN Staff

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06/16/2026

Sea Glider Trials — THE REGENT Viceroy Seaglider, a winged passenger ferry, glides over the surface of Narragansett Bay on a test run off the coast of North Kingstown, R.I. REGENT Craft Inc. announced on Tuesday it has completed the world’s first seaglider manufacturing facility in Quonset Business Park. /COURTESY REGENT CRAFT INC.

NORTH KINGSTOWN – REGENT Craft Inc. has completed the world’s first seaglider manufacturing facility in Quonset Business Park, the company announced Tuesday at the Reindustrialize conference in Detroit. The new 255,000-square-foot facility at 1 Seaglider Way will serve as REGENT’s global production hub for both the all-electric Viceroy seaglider and the Squire seaglider drone, the

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NORTH KINGSTOWN – REGENT Craft Inc. has completed the world’s first seaglider manufacturing facility in Quonset Business Park, the company announced Tuesday at the Reindustrialize conference in Detroit. The new 255,000-square-foot facility at 1 Seaglider Way will serve as REGENT's global production hub for both the all-electric Viceroy seaglider and the Squire seaglider drone, the company said in a news release. REGENT’s Viceroy model, developed for commercial use, has a payload of 3,500 pounds and transports passengers over water while hovering within a wingspan of the surface. The seaglider can travel at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour for up to 180 miles in its all-electric form, and for up to 1,600 miles in its hybrid model. Meanwhile, the exclusively hybrid Squire has a payload of 50 pounds and can reach speeds of up to 80 miles per hour for up to 115 miles. The Squire was designed for usage in troop and supply logistics; medical evacuation and search and rescue operations; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and launchable devices, including the deployment of unmanned systems. The new Quonset facility will also support a commercial order book worth more than $10 billion across six continents, alongside the company's growing defense business, including contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps. Regent has pledged to create 300 jobs, with the potential to expand to 750 positions, at the North Kingstown facility over the next decade through Rhode Island's Qualified Jobs Program. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new facility's cost or when it is expected to be operational. "The Seaglider Manufacturing Facility is our part in helping America lead the next generation of manufacturing and transportation technology,” said Billy Thalheimer, company CEO and co-founder. ”From our facility at 1 Seaglider Way, we will deliver Seaglider vessels to customers on six continents, create hundreds of high-quality American jobs and show the world what it looks like when innovation and manufacturing meet at scale. We built this facility the way we build our vessels: with precision, purpose and an uncompromising commitment to quality and safety." The 255,000 square feet facility features dedicated areas for structural assembly, wing and hydrofoil integration, battery and systems installation, and water-based test and acceptance operations, with tooling, metrology and quality checkpoints embedded throughout. The layout is engineered to support phased capacity increases as production scales, without compromising safety or certification objectives. From this site, REGENT said it will manage end-to-end production of its 12-passenger Viceroy Seaglider vessel and its Squire Seaglider drone, while anchoring a domestic supply chain built for high-rate manufacturing. Regent was founded in Greater Boston in 2020 and, following R.I. Commerce Corp.'s approval of $13 million in tax credits for the company, moved to North Kingstown’s Quonset Business Park in 2022. To acquire the tax credits, REGENT must meet Qualified Jobs Incentive Act requirements. (ADDS 8th paragraph noting effort to reach company for additional comment.)