Anduril announced that it will invest $3.7 billion in the development of a shipyard to manufacture parts for submarines.
Published October 6, 2026
Defense technology company Anduril announced it will invest $3.7 billion to develop a new shipyard in Maryland to produce critical components for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarines as the United States seeks to strengthen its maritime defense capabilities.
California-based Anduril Industries confirmed Tuesday it will receive a $2.9 billion U.S. Navy contract to invest in a submarine production plant called Arsenal-2 and manufacture submarine parts.
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U.S. President Donald Trump announced the project Tuesday afternoon, where he was scheduled to announce a major expansion of the Navy Yard in Baltimore, Maryland.
Anduril is a defense technology company whose co-founder, Palmer Lackey, is leading a new Pentagon project with tech billionaire and former top adviser to President Trump Elon Musk. Mr. Lackey and Mr. Musk have been tapped by the Pentagon to lead Project Meridian, a newly unveiled initiative focused on the future of warfare, including maritime military capabilities powered by autonomous AI.
Anduril, which has a market capitalization of approximately $117 billion, specializes in unmanned underwater vehicles and maritime vessels, or naval drones, designed for the U.S. military and its allies.
The initiative, announced last week during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s State of the Union address in Virginia, is part of a 120-day study aimed at identifying new technologies needed for the next generation of U.S. battlefield superiority.
The investment is the latest in a series of broad steps by the Department of Defense to accelerate naval shipbuilding and weapons production, spurred by the war with Iran and other regional conflicts that continue to threaten global oil traffic, while emphasizing the critical role of maritime powers.
Anduril was founded in 2017 by Lucky and is best known for military autonomous systems, drones, and software.
But the startup has expanded beyond drones to command and control software designed to connect maritime and undersea systems, as well as military sensors, weapons, and other systems.
The Maryland facility will manufacture torpedo tubes and large hull components for the U.S. Navy’s improved Virginia-class fast attack submarines, which the Navy is modifying to carry up to 40 Tomahawk missiles each.
Although the warship is nuclear-powered, it is not part of the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent system.
The facility is expected to create 3,100 jobs while supporting more than 11,000 indirect roles.
The Navy currently operates 26 Virginia-class fast attack craft, with two more scheduled for delivery in 2027. America’s shipyards are struggling to meet the Pentagon’s annual production rate of two new ships due to continued supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, according to a report released by Pentagon and Navy officials.
Official disclosures confirm that the delivery rate has stalled at just 1.1 to 1.2 submarines per year.
Anduril President Chris Brose told reporters on Tuesday that the new factory’s “primary focus” is to prioritize manufacturing parts for Virginia-class submarines, rather than developing new drone platforms.
“The government is actually buying the output of what we can produce from the facilities we invest in,” he says.
