WASHINGTON — President Trump will announce later Tuesday that the federal government and Anduril Industries are investing a total of $6.6 billion to build critical components for Virginia-class submarines in Baltimore, an joint effort meant to boost US maritime dominance.
The shipyard, known as Arsenal 2, will be supported by $3.7 billion in capital from California-based Anduril and another $2.9 billion from a contract between the company and the US Navy.
“This delivers on President Trump’s promise to bolster America’s defense industrial base while revitalizing our manufacturing industry, creating over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs and driving $2 billion in annual economic output,” said White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly.
“In line with the president’s maritime action plan released earlier this year, the Trump administration is rebuilding US shipbuilding capacity and capabilities, reforming workforce, education and training, protecting our maritime industrial base, and eliminating burdensome industry regulations.”
The facility will be constructed at Sparrows Point, site of a shipyard and a former Bethlehem Steel plant, to produce torpedo tubes and eventually ship sections — including bows and sterns, among other components, an industry official said.
The US currently has 26 Virginia-class submarines and is supposed to be on pace to build two per year.
The nuclear-powered Virginia-class attack submarines are the successors to the Cold War-era Los Angeles-class submarines.
“China competes with us,” a senior administration official explained. “Not only at sea … going navy to navy, but also, you know, the way that China … very strongly dominates in the area of commercial shipping.”
Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 meant to restore America’s maritime dominance, which emphasized countering China’s control of commercial shipping.
In April 2026, the Navy cancelled a Biden-era plan to overhaul the USS Boise, a Los Angeles-class submarine, and redirected billions in funding toward Virginia-class subs.
Under former President Joe Biden, the Navy had awarded a $1.2 billion contract to renovate the Boise but costs had ballooned in the years since.
