Defense technology firm Anduril Industries said on October 6 it will invest $3.7 billion to build a new shipyard in Baltimore County, Maryland, dubbed Arsenal-2, to manufacture critical components for the US Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines. The facility is expected to be operational by the end of the decade, creating 3,100 direct jobs and supporting more than 11,000 indirect jobs, Reuters reported.
Separately, the Navy awarded Anduril a contract worth up to $2.9 billion to manufacture submarine components, with payments tied directly to production outcomes and Anduril assuming most of the execution risk, the company said. Combined, the investment and contract are valued at up to $6.6 billion.
The push addresses urgent capacity shortfalls in the submarine industrial base, with Virginia-class boats built jointly by General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls. Anduril, founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey and best known for autonomous systems and drones, is already building a California facility making Virginia-class components such as torpedo tubes, and plans to expand into larger submarine modules and hull sections once the Baltimore shipyard is operational. It follows Anduril’s $1 billion Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio, which began producing autonomous combat drones this year.