Anduril Industries and the U.S. Navy will allocate up to $6.6 billion to create new production facilities for Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines in Sparrow Point, Maryland. According to Navy Recognition, the Arsenal II complex will produce critical components and large blocks, which will then be sent to existing shipyards for final assembly. The investments are designed to eliminate the constant backlog of the American shipbuilding industry from plans to produce new multi-purpose submarines, especially against the background of the decommissioning of aging Los Angeles-class submarines and preparations for future commitments under the AUKUS partnership, which involves the supply of nuclear submarines to the Australian fleet.
The problem, however, goes far beyond building a new factory. The Pentagon usually funds the production of two Virginia–class submarines annually, but the actual output has remained significantly lower over the past decade, at about 1.1–1.2 submarines per year. This gap has led to an increased queue of already funded submarines awaiting construction or transfer. In the longer term, the fleet will need to go beyond the pace of delivery of two multipurpose submarines per year: the estimated need now stands at about 2.33 Virginia-class submarines annually in order to maintain the combat capability of its own fleet and compensate for the disposal of submarines that are planned to be transferred to Australia.
Design of a new shipyard for the production of Virginia submarines
Anduril/US Navy
According to Anduril's statement on October 6, the company plans to invest $3.7 billion of equity in Arsenal II, and the contract with the Navy may add up to another $2.9 billion, depending on production results.
The complex is planned to occupy more than 186,000 square meters on a 187-acre site and is expected to create about 3,100 direct jobs. Production is scheduled to start in 2030, followed by a gradual increase in output.
Arsenal II will not assemble the entire Virginia–class submarines: Anduril will manufacture complex components and large modules, which will then be supplied to the shipyards of General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII Newport News Shipbuilding, the two main American manufacturers of nuclear submarines. The goal is to remove some of the industrial burden from these enterprises and their suppliers. Among the first components to be produced in Maryland are torpedo tubes. Over time, Anduril intends to expand production to larger modules and, potentially, main body sections.
The Maryland site is expected to add about 9 million man-hours per year to the Virginia program, equivalent to about 15% of additional production capacity. Prior to the opening of Arsenal II, Anduril intends to create an enterprise with an area of 15,000 square meters in Orange County (California). This site will be used for the qualification of production processes, staff training, production of test equipment and various marine components. The experience gained there is then expected to be transferred to Maryland as Arsenal II scales up.
Today, 26 Virginia-class multipurpose submarines serve in the United States Navy. Another 23 units are under construction or contracted.
