Anduril Dives Into Submarine Construction With New Baltimore Plant

Arsenal-2 is a new Anduril manufacturing facility in Baltimore. Its purpose is to expand the industrial base supporting Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Instead of building complete submarines, the plant will make complex components for the two shipyards that assemble these boats. That could add capacity to a production system facing delays.

The planned parts include torpedo tubes and spherical air flasks. Anduril will send those components to General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding. The company’s move is notable because its existing shipbuilding work has involved only a limited number of smaller craft.

The facility will not help immediately. An industry official said it will be years before the first Anduril-produced components are installed on a submarine. No specific timeline has been established. The Navy hopes the added industrial capacity will eventually support faster Virginia-class construction.

The Arsenal-2 effort involves $6.6 billion in announced funding and a two-million-square-foot facility in Baltimore. Anduril plans to invest $3.7 billion to build and staff the plant. Separately, the Navy awarded the company a contract worth up to $2.9 billion for submarine components.

The potential capacity increase is measured in labor rather than completed submarines. A senior administration official said the site could add about nine million labor hours each year. Officials described that figure as roughly a 15% increase that could translate directly into Virginia-class production. The plant would make components such as torpedo tubes and air flasks for the established shipyards.

That estimate describes potential, not current output. The facility still has to be built, staffed, and integrated into the submarine supply chain. The article gives no specific production start date. It also says years will pass before the first Anduril-made components are placed on a submarine.

The Navy has bought Virginia-class submarines at a planned rate of two per year, but actual production has never reached that level. Since 2022, output has been limited to about 1.1 to 1.2 boats annually. That shortfall creates a growing backlog of submarines already purchased but not yet built, delaying deliveries to the fleet.

The Congressional Research Service identifies several causes. Shipyards and suppliers face workforce challenges. First-time quality problems require correction. Material and supplier delays disrupt construction. Lead-ship issues tied to the Virginia Payload Module have added difficulty. The VPM is an 84-foot hull extension with four additional large vertical tubes for missiles and other payloads.

The Navy is working with the shipbuilders to improve the wider Virginia enterprise. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told Congress the service would meet its two-boat delivery rate by 2032. The article presents Arsenal-2 as one proposed way to ease capacity and supply-chain pressure.

Virginia-class construction depends on many complex components arriving at the shipyards on time. If the main yards must make or wait for every part themselves, bottlenecks can slow submarine assembly. Producing selected components at Arsenal-2 would add another manufacturing site and expand the system’s total labor capacity.

The clearest example is the torpedo tube. A senior administration official said having torpedo tubes earlier would let the shipyards move current Virginia submarines under construction faster. Anduril’s plant could also produce spherical air flasks and other parts, then ship them to the yards for integration into the boats.

This approach could reduce pressure on the existing shipyard workforce and suppliers. However, it is not an immediate fix. The article says years will pass before the first Anduril-produced components are placed on a submarine. The Navy has not established a specific timeline for that work, so the promised acceleration remains future capacity.

General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding are the two shipyards that build the Navy’s nuclear submarines. Anduril’s Arsenal-2 will support them by manufacturing selected Virginia-class components. This creates a three-part arrangement: Anduril supplies parts, while the established shipyards continue building the submarines.

The Baltimore facility is expected to produce torpedo tubes, spherical air flasks, and other complex components. Those parts will be transported to the two shipyards and incorporated into submarines under construction. The proposed division of work could give the shipyards earlier access to needed hardware and reduce some pressure on their own production teams.

Anduril’s role would represent a major expansion of its shipbuilding portfolio, which the article describes as a limited number of smaller craft. The partnership is still developing. No specific timeline exists for the first components, and years may pass before they are installed on a submarine.

The AUKUS agreement adds another requirement to an already strained Virginia-class system. Under the 2021 trilateral deal involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia is set to receive Virginia-class submarines. That demand must be managed alongside the Navy’s own plan to expand and maintain its fleet.

The article specifies three boats for Australia: one new-build Virginia-class submarine and two vessels transferred from the U.S. Navy’s fleet. New construction competes for shipyard capacity, workers, suppliers, materials, and delivery slots. Transferring existing boats also affects the number available to the U.S. Navy.

This pressure arrives while production has averaged only about 1.1 to 1.2 boats per year since 2022, below the two-per-year goal. The Navy already faces a backlog of procured but unbuilt submarines. Arsenal-2 is intended to add capacity, but its parts will not enter submarines for years, so AUKUS increases the urgency of fixing delays.

Nuclear-powered attack submarines are strategically valuable because they provide a major warfighting capability beneath the ocean. The article does not detail their specific operating advantages, but Anduril President Chris Brose calls the Virginia-class program one of the nation’s most critical capabilities. He says it guarantees deterrence every day.

The Virginia class also carries important weapons and payloads. Its Virginia Payload Module is an 84-foot hull extension with four additional large vertical tubes. Those tubes can launch Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles, and other payloads. This gives the boats a wider mission role.

That strategic importance makes production delays consequential. The Navy has 26 Virginia-class boats, with two more expected to be commissioned next spring, but plans for 59 overall. The current production rate is only about 1.1 to 1.2 boats annually. Expanding capacity is therefore tied to maintaining deterrence and meeting future fleet requirements.