The history of MPVXX

A few days after leaving the Royal Navy, I found myself in unfamiliar waters. The transition to civilian life was disorienting - no watch rotations, no real mission, just long nights and a browser full of tabs. I’d stay up late, falling into YouTube black holes, watching documentaries on vessels, engineering marvels, and tactical design breakthroughs.

One night, I stumbled across a video that changed everything: Juliet Marine’s GHOST. A SWATH vessel with reversed props, gas turbines, and a super cavitation air system—capable of hitting 70 knots. It was a masterpiece of engineering. Tactical, aggressive, and unapologetically bold.

But something didn’t sit right.

The propulsion system, while clever, had a vulnerability. The forward-mounted prop was exposed, necessary for the cavitation system, yes, but also a snag hazard. One rogue object, and you’re compromised. I understood the logic: blowing air down the pod to reduce drag meant a conventional rear prop would choke. But I couldn’t shake the thought—what if the prop was internal?

That night, I sketched a concept: a central-axis water pump. Intake at the front, jet out the back. The cavitation system could still reduce drag externally, but the propulsion would be protected (like a jet ski, but smarter.)

And that was just the beginning.

Years chasing subsurface threats in the UK–Greenland gap had taught me noise kills. Prop noise, hull wash, electromagnetic signature, all of these are capable of being detected thousands of yards away way, long before you're over the horizon on a good acoustic array. Jet skis are crude, loud... built for one thing. I wanted something quieter, something tactical and economical. A vessel that left minimal wake, noise, and thermal signature. That’s when I discovered the elegance of laminar flow and how it might be shaped and moulded into a propulsion system.

So I am about to build the world's first one.

Today, the MK1 MPVXX pod is about to become real. The system allows full or partial laminar flow, tailored to mission profile. It’s modular, quiet and powerful. And it’s just the start.

Hydrastorm isn’t just about a vessel propulsion system, I have other patents filed for energy collection for USV vessels also to extend ISR missions from hours to days. Hydrastorm is a philosophy: engineering innovation with diagnostic clarity. Born from midnight documentaries and forged in the wake of tactical experience.