New Maryland defense shipyard gets $6.6 billion commitment and Trump visit

Defense tech firm Anduril unveiled plans on Tuesday for a $3.7 billion shipyard in Maryland and President Donald Trump attended a ceremony to launch the project, which was also awarded a $2.9 billion US Navy ‌contract and is expected to generate 3,100 jobs. Anduril said the new high-tech shipyard at Sparrows Point, Maryland, near the Port of Baltimore, would make components for the Navy's Virginia-class submarines.

The Navy on Tuesday awarded Anduril a $2.9 billion contract to manufacture submarine components including torpedo tubes and doors. The investment and associated contract, together valued at up ‌to $6.6 billion, come amid a broader push by the United States and its allies to expand arms production following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ‌conflicts in the Middle East.

"Right here in Sparrow's Point, you'll build the next generation of American submarines, including autonomous subs, torpedo tubes, and critical components for our cutting-edge Virginia-class attack submarines - the greatest and quietest ever built," Trump told a crowd mostly of students from the US Naval Academy. The project puts Trump in rare alignment with a frequent critic, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat ⁠who is ​seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

In ⁠the run-up to November's congressional elections, Trump is aiming to show that his policies have bolstered jobs and manufacturing. Polls have shown that Trump's Republicans have lost voter support, largely over cost-of-living ⁠concerns. The president has said his tariffs and industrial policy will revive US factory work, from steelmaking to shipbuilding. Anduril's location in Maryland was formerly home to a large steel mill ​that went through decades of financial decline and closed in bankruptcy in 2012.

Trump is touring the country in a pre-election blitz, announcing or claiming ⁠credit for a range of private-sector investments and government spending initiatives he has called "goodies." The new plant, dubbed Arsenal-2, is expected to be operational by the end of the decade.

"American taxpayers will receive ⁠a ​40% stake in the new shipyard," Trump said, but he did not indicate what the ownership mechanism would be. Anduril is building another facility in California to manufacture Virginia-class submarine components, and plans to expand into producing larger submarine modules and hull sections once its Baltimore shipyard becomes operational.

Virginia-class submarines, which can ⁠travel at speeds exceeding 25 knots, are the Navy's latest generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, designed for anti-submarine warfare, land-attack strikes and surveillance missions. General Dynamics' Electric Boat ⁠and Huntington Ingalls Industries jointly build them.

Anduril, ⁠founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, is best known for its autonomous systems, drones and software built for the US military and its allies. Anduril's $1 billion Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio began producing autonomous combat drones this year.