SPARROWS POINT, Md.—Defense technology firm Anduril plans to accelerate the production of Virginia-class submarines by manufacturing components, including torpedo tubes, at a new facility slated to begin operations by 2030.
Named Arsenal-2, the plant represents the company’s second manufacturing site and forms the core of a $6.6 billion investment split between Anduril ($3.7 billion) and the U.S. Navy ($2.9 billion via a new contract). Under the agreement, Anduril will fabricate critical components and large-scale assemblies for the Virginia-class, delivering them to incumbent prime contractors General Dynamics Electric Boat in Connecticut and HII Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
Speaking Tuesday to a predominantly Navy audience, President Donald Trump, standing beside two of Anduril’s Dive-XL autonomous vessels, touched on diverse subjects ranging from Venezuela and tariffs to autonomous subsea platforms before revealing the federal government’s equity position in the new facility.
“The ultimate proof of our commitment to ensuring the shipyard’s enduring success: American taxpayers will receive a 40 percent stake in the new shipyard. We get 40 percent,” Trump stated, offering no further specifics.
The government’s equity interest applies to a new subsidiary established specifically to operate the shipyard, rather than to Anduril itself, the company clarified.
Detailed terms of the arrangement were not immediately disclosed.
During the event at Tradepoint Atlantic near Baltimore, Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher, who oversees Navy submarine construction, described subs as “our oceans’ apex predators” required “now more than ever” for deterrence, while admitting the United States faces significant capacity gaps in shipbuilding.
“As other nations challenge the rules-based order that keeps our oceans free and open, we need the deterrence and denial of our submarines now more than ever,” Gaucher said. “At the same time, we must reckon with the fact that we have lost industrial capacity. Today, we start to rebuild it.”
Designed around reconfigurable production lines, the yard will run on Anduril’s ArsenalOS industrial software platform.
“What we’re really focused on here is being able to build an entire shipyard with a software and digital foundation. So that covers everything from how the factory is laid out, how work moves through the factory in a logical way, how all of that work is managed,” said Chris Brose, Anduril’s president and chief strategy officer, during a press briefing.
Brose explained this involves automating available processes and maintaining digital records for tasks such as precision welding, ensuring traceability for certification and safety-critical measures throughout the facility.
The goal is to enable less experienced workers to contribute rapidly, requiring only basic training augmented by technology and digital designs.
Groundbreaking for Arsenal-2 is planned for early 2027. The site will cover nearly 200 acres—roughly the size of 40 football fields—just outside Baltimore, with initial operations scheduled for 2030.
Per the company’s release, Navy payments are tied to demonstrated production outcomes.
Engaging a non-traditional defense firm like Anduril to build submarine parts aligns with the Navy’s strategy to boost throughput by distributing workload across multiple industrial base suppliers.
“Today, roughly 10 percent of shipbuilding work is performed at distributed sites. Our goal is 50 percent. New hulls will prioritize modular, digital designs that enable distributed shipbuilding across multiple yards and suppliers,” the Navy stated in its 2026 shipbuilding plan issued earlier this year.
The agreement further cements the Pentagon’s ties with Anduril and its leadership. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appointed Anduril founder Palmer Luckey to an advisory committee for Project Meridian, tasked with analyzing future warfare requirements.
Once operational, the Baltimore facility is projected to raise overall Navy submarine production by 15 percent, adding approximately 9 million production hours annually. Gaucher noted this would allow Newport News and Electric Boat to build more vessels: “Situated geographically between these two prime shipyards and connected to them by a network of sea, rail, and road, Arsenal-2 will take on the heavy component manufacturing.”
The plant will produce components needed immediately by prime shipyards, such as precision torpedo tubes and impulse tanks, before progressing to complex rafted module assemblies.
Anduril also intends to manufacture sections of the submarine hull in the future.
The event drew approximately 100 sailors and 200 midshipmen transported from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, along with remarks from Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and Hegseth.
The USS Billings, recently deployed in the Caribbean, provided a prominent backdrop as sailors aboard the Freedom-class littoral combat ship stood at attention during the president’s address.
However, several high-level Maryland officials, including Democratic Governor Wes Moore, were absent from the lengthy gathering, reportedly declining to attend after being denied a speaking opportunity. Four Baltimore Ravens players were present but did not speak; they were asked to stand during a special acknowledgment in the president’s remarks.
