If you've been following the news out of military circles lately, one thing that stands out as a common trend is that the Western powers are reacting to the current geopolitical situation by initiating major rearmament drives intended to not only reequip and modernize their forces, but to do so as fast as possible.

Part of this effort involves not only investing in flashy things like lasers and missiles or vitally mundane tasks like building up stockpiles of munitions and spares, it also includes adapting new or previously overlooked technologies to speed up and improve the resilience of logistical systems that keep soldiers supplied in the field.

REGENT's Squire project combines three technologies in hopes of giving the US military an advantage in the logistical realm – autonomous flight systems, Wing-in-Ground (WIG) Effect, and electric propulsion.

Since 2020, the company has been working on an electric fixed-wing aircraft that exploits the WIG Effect to create a craft that flies at an altitude that is about equal to or less than half the length of its wingspan. When it does this, drag is reduced significantly as the proximity to the ground disrupts the formation of vortices at the wingtips. However, the party piece is that the air trapped under the wing creates a high-pressure cushion effect with a lift-to-drag ratio beyond that of a conventional aircraft.

The upshot is that a WIG aircraft can carry heavier payloads over greater ranges than conventional craft as it skims over open ground or water. This is especially important for electrically powered craft that have notoriously short range.