WASHINGTON — Anduril has announced the creation of a new shipyard in Baltimore County, Maryland, to produce components for Virginia‑class submarines, in coordination with the White House.

The facility, named Arsenal‑2, will receive a $6.6 billion investment, with $3.7 billion from private sources and up to $2.9 billion from the Navy. This marks Anduril’s initial involvement in a major legacy defense program’s supply chain.

“This contract structure ensures that Anduril, not the taxpayer, assumes most of the execution risk, aligning incentives to guarantee on‑time, high‑quality submarine production,” the company said in a news release.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks later today in Baltimore County regarding the new shipyard.

General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding currently co‑produce Virginia‑class submarines, and Arsenal‑2 will manufacture “complex components and large‑scale assemblies” for these vessels, the company said. Strengthening the submarine industrial base is a key Navy priority, as the sector has struggled to meet annual production targets for the Virginia class.

“Adding another source of this work will enable more submarine construction to proceed simultaneously across the industrial base, expanding overall capacity for the Virginia‑class program,” Anduril stated in its release.

Anduril expects the shipyard to generate over 3,000 direct jobs and more than 11,000 indirect positions at the site, located at Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore County, Maryland. The 2‑million‑square‑foot facility is slated to begin operations in 2030, with permitting to start immediately and construction pending required approvals.

Chris Brose, Anduril’s president and chief strategy officer, said the company has been consulting with the administration and the Navy for nearly two years on the need for additional shipyard production capacity.

“We need to expand the maritime and submarine industrial bases to increase submarine production,” Brose explained. “Our goal at Anduril is to contribute to that effort. This isn’t about taking work from others; it’s about adding capacity to meet our nation’s submarine requirements.”

Anduril will initially manufacture basic modules like torpedo tubes at the site, with plans to later produce more complex components, including full vessel sections such as the bow.

In parallel, Anduril will open a 160,000‑square‑foot facility in Orange County, California, to manufacture submarine parts. The Orange County site will support broader maritime manufacturing initiatives once Arsenal‑2 becomes operational.

“The Orange County facility provides a two‑year head start for Anduril to develop and validate manufacturing methods, workflows, and quality systems ahead of Arsenal‑2’s launch,” the company said. “It will enable prototyping and production of Virginia‑class test assets and critical components, such as torpedo tubes, while also allowing Anduril to recruit and train an early workforce on the systems and standards that will be scaled at Arsenal‑2.”

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle told the House Appropriations Committee in May that he expects the industry to deliver two Virginia‑class submarines per year by around 2032. The Navy’s May shipbuilding plan emphasized that investing in the submarine industrial base is essential to achieving those production targets.

“The Navy’s goal to increase production to at least one Columbia‑class and two Virginia‑class submarines per year is the top industrial base priority, with near‑term emphasis on stabilizing the supply chain and expanding the skilled workforce until full production rates are reached,” the plan stated.

A July GAO report highlighted challenges in the Virginia‑class program, including delayed material deliveries and a shortage of experienced workers. As of June 2025, shipbuilders were delivering one Virginia‑class submarine per year, below the Navy’s target of two annually.

“Late material deliveries from suppliers and limited availability of experienced workers, driven by labor‑market competition, are contributing to these trends,” the GAO report noted. “The Navy plans to address performance gaps by investing billions in the supply chain and shipbuilding wages, among other mitigation measures.”

According to a senior administration official, Anduril’s facility will add approximately 9 million work hours per year to the submarine industrial base, representing a 15 percent increase in Virginia‑class submarine production capacity.

“Having those torpedo tubes earlier will accelerate the assembly of Virginia submarines currently under construction,” the official explained. “This adds both resilience and capacity to the submarine industrial base, which should directly improve Virginia‑class construction rates.”

Source link

Exit mobile version