Anduril to Invest $3.7 Billion in Submarine Component Plant in Baltimore

Anduril Industries announced a $3.7 billion investment to build a submarine component manufacturing plant at Tradepoint Atlantic, the multimodal logistics development located within the Port of Baltimore, in Baltimore County, Maryland. The project, named Arsenal-2 and described by the company as a software-defined shipyard, comes on top of a $2.9 billion U.S. Navy contract, bringing the combined investment to $6.6 billion. The plant is expected to begin operating in 2030 and create 3,100 permanent jobs.

The facility will manufacture components and, later on, large structural blocks for the nuclear-powered Virginia-class attack submarines, which will be shipped to Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News, Virginia, and General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, for final assembly. In an initial phase, Anduril will produce smaller parts, such as torpedo tubes, before moving on to larger sections such as bow and stern modules; this early-stage production will take place at a new 160,000-square-foot plant in Orange County, California, which will give the company a two-year operational head start before Arsenal-2 comes online. The new shipyard will span 187 acres at Sparrows Point, cover more than 2 million square feet, and include a 1,200-foot dry dock.

Arsenal-2 will rise on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant at Sparrows Point, home to a shipyard that built military and commercial vessels until production ceased in 1986 and the facility fully closed in 2003. Tradepoint Atlantic, which acquired the property in 2014, transformed it into a 3,300-acre logistics and industrial complex with warehouses, distribution centers, a deepwater port, and rail connections to CSX and Norfolk Southern. On the same site, Mediterranean Shipping Company began construction this year of a new container terminal valued at $1.2 billion.

Maryland officials described the project as the state's largest single private investment and its biggest job creator in more than a decade, with a total estimated impact of more than 14,000 direct and indirect jobs and a projected $2 billion in annual economic output along with $312 million in wages. Maryland and Baltimore County have committed to matching up to 13% of the private investment through existing incentive programs and new budget allocations, including a Baltimore County personal property tax benefit worth up to $210 million over 30 years, according to WYPR. The state also included capital support for a workforce training center and will seek a federal Maritime Prosperity Zone designation for the region. Governor Wes Moore said thousands of Marylanders will gain new pathways to employment, wages and wealth through highly skilled maritime manufacturing jobs.

President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit Tradepoint Atlantic on October 6 to promote the project. The contract proved controversial, as it was awarded just days after Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey was named, alongside Elon Musk and former Republican congressman Newt Gingrich, to a Pentagon weapons advisory group, and comes weeks before the midterm elections in which Democratic Governor Wes Moore is seeking re-election along with eight seats in the House of Representatives.