Leviathan Air
Ground Effect Vehicles
Moving cargo and mission specific payloads quickly long distance over oceans, esspecally in Indo Pacom. But without the need for runways.
Why it mattersGround effect vehicles (GEVs) are a specialized type of boat/ship that uses the well understood principle of ground effect to skim across the ocean just above the water at 150+ mph. They takeoff/land on the water. As long as the sea state is acceptable they can land anywhere and reposition or loiter at will. On the commercial side ground effect vehicles are registered and certified by the Coast Guard as a boat/ship, not through the FAA as an aircraft. Meaning we save massive amounts of time and money for the development and certification process. This is also why we refer to them as ultra high speed USVs, since for all intents and purposes they are boats. Just very very fast boats. We are starting off building small skiboat/cessna size versions capable of carrying 1000lbs of equipment/payload for ISR, Patrol, and Tactical Delivery roles with a ferry range of 1000+ miles. These will be remotely piloted, or potentially fully autonomous in the future and intended to be attritable if needed. This means having a platform that can cover long distances over water cruising at high speeds less than 20 feet off the water making them very hard to see coming either visually or by radar. They can land on the water and loiter for extended periods of time running off battery power, with the hybrid generator only needing to turn on intermittently, making them hard to detect. Lower cost, single use versions of these could also be used to carry explosive payloads to target coastal infrastructure. Long-term we plan to scale up our GEVs to carry dozens, and even hundreds of tons of cargo and equipment.
About
Problem
Attrition of distance. Transporting missions specific payloads and cargo long distances over oceans is a massive challenge, especially if needed to be done fast.
Solution
We are building remote operated semi-autonomous Ground Effect Vehicles (GEVs) to provide long range high-speed transport of equipment and cargo across oceans while being able to takeoff and land on the water.
Field Validation
Pre-field Technology Maturity (TRL): TRL 4 - Building our first flying prototype
Strategic Advantage
We are building large size, complex to design, flying machines used in a marine environment. Everything about what we are doing is hard and expensive. Us being one of the first players in this space will give us a massive head start in the long run.
Go-to-Market
SBIR/STTRs to start followed by pursuing DIU and direct contracts with Navy, Marines, and SOCOM. Dual-Use: Potential [Where does this extend commercially? Highlight urgent markets: energy, logistics, AI safety, etc.] Interisland cargo transport and carrying inspection drones to offshore installations like wind turbines and oil & gas. Larger versions long term can do transoceanic heavy cargo transport.
Team
Riley Knox (CEO) - Mechanical Engineer, 2nd time founder Scott Rewerts (CTO) - Aerospace Engineer, Head of Aerodynamics at Honda Jet, Head of Aerodynamics at Eclipse Aviation, Head of Flight Sciences at Radia (https://radia.com/)
Primary User
Navy, Marines, and SOCOM using our GEVs for ISR, ASW, E Warfare, Tactical Resupply, & CUAS.
Problem
Moving cargo and mission specific payloads quickly long distance over oceans, esspecally in Indo Pacom. But without the need for runways.