Defense technology company Anduril plans to build a 2-million-square-foot shipyard at Sparrows Point in Baltimore County to manufacture components for U.S. Navy submarines. The company and Maryland officials announced the project Tuesday, Oct. 6, and named the facility Arsenal-2.
Anduril says it will invest $3.7 billion of its own capital. The Navy awarded the company a contract worth up to $2.9 billion, with payments tied to demonstrated production results, according to USNI News. Together, the company describes the planned investment as $6.6 billion.
The Maryland facility will begin with components such as torpedo tubes for Virginia-class attack submarines. Anduril told reporters it eventually hopes to manufacture modules and full sections of submarine hulls, but it does not plan to build complete submarines.
Maryland officials project the shipyard will create more than 3,100 permanent jobs and support more than 14,000 jobs in total, including indirect employment. Those are projections tied to a planned facility, not current jobs at the site.
The shipyard is planned for Tradepoint Atlantic, within the Sparrows Point complex. Maryland officials noted the area’s shipbuilding history: during World War II, workers at the site built vessels for the war effort. The location is south of Baltimore on the Patapsco River.
Gov. Wes Moore called it Maryland’s largest single private investment and biggest job creator in more than a decade. Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier also welcomed the project, saying it could bring jobs and business opportunities to the county.
Newport News Shipbuilding, one of the Navy’s two Virginia-class submarine builders, said it welcomed Anduril as a future subcomponent partner. The Navy has cited torpedo tubes as a production bottleneck, and a senior administration official told reporters the added capacity could help move submarines already under construction forward faster.
Anduril says the Maryland site is expected to begin production in 2030. A California facility is expected to start two years earlier, while the company develops the Maryland shipyard. Maryland and Baltimore County say they may match up to 13% of Anduril’s anticipated private investment through incentive programs and new appropriations; some of that funding still requires approval from state lawmakers and the county council.