Anduril and US Navy Invest $6.6B for New Submarine Manufacturing Yard
As part of the U.S. Navy’s push to expand shipbuilding capacity and accelerate construction, it has awarded a $2.9 billion contract to defense contractor Anduril Industries. The company reports it will invest an additional $3.7 billion in private capital to create a new submarine industrial base to be located at Maryland’s historic Sparrows Point, once the home of American shipbuilding.
Anduril describes the planned new facility as a “software-defined shipyard.” The project, which Maryland officials said would be the largest private investment in the state in over a decade, is targeted to begin production by 2030 and is expected to provide more than 3,100 new jobs.
To be known as Arsenal-2, it will be built at Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore County, which is the redevelopment of the former Sparrows Point shipyard, which built military vessels deployed in the First and Second World Wars as well as commercial ships. The Sparrows Point Shipyard stopped new ship construction in 1986, and the legacy site finally closed completely in 2003.
During a briefing hosted by the White House, they asserted that the new facility will play a critical role in the production capacity the Navy needs to continue to build the Virginia-class submarines. Reports said that component manufacturing, such as that for torpedo tubes, is currently delaying the submarine construction programs. The White House asserted that the yard, when fully operational, would add about 9 million labor hours of production capacity each year, a 15 percent increase for the submarine program.
The new yard will be located on 187 acres at Sparrows Point and cover more than 2 million square feet. It will have fabrication and assembly areas, production lines, and a 1,200-foot graving dock.
Arsenal-2 will manufacture components and later large-scale blocks for the submarines. The blocks will be transferred to General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding, which are assembling the submarines. Anduril, which is known for its drones and AI-powered software tools, highlights that the new yard will be built around a digital backbone. It says it will connect fabrication workflows, outfitting sequences, material movement, inspection protocols, and documentation requirements in a single system that creates real-time visibility into the state of production.
The State of Maryland and Baltimore County have also committed to match up to 13 percent of the total anticipated private investment by Anduril through existing economic incentive programs and new appropriations. The state incentive package includes capital support for the construction of a Center of Excellence facility for workforce training at a to-be-determined site at or near Tradepoint Atlantic. The State will additionally pursue a Maritime Prosperity Zone federal designation for the region, which will support Maryland’s longstanding maritime industry and experienced maritime workforce.
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Anduril says site preparations will begin immediately and that it is seeking the necessary permitting and approvals for the facility. It expects to begin operations in 2030 and increase operations over time. CNBC reports that, in the meantime, the company plans to build some of the components, including torpedo tubes, at a facility in California.
The project is another part of the large-scale redevelopment of the sprawling facility into an industrial zone. Work also recently began on a new container terminal to be built at the site in cooperation with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company.
