President Trump touts $6.6B ‘Arsenal-2’ project to build and operate the US Navy Shipbuilding Facility at Baltimore

Exclusive By: Kanwal Abidi

Maryland:
President Trump exhibited confidence and pride in saying "today, we are officially launching
the construction of the largest new shipyard in the United States!" He was accompanied by
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, where they announced the “development of a new shipyard
which shall be referred to as Arsenal-2”, during a ceremony at the future site in Sparrows
Point, Maryland.
Arsenal- 2 boasts of a $6.6B investment from the Navy and Anduril Industries, which shall build
and operate the facility by 2030, bringing lot of jobs and providing great value to the Baltimore
County. This huge investment aims to fill in the growing submarine production gap with China,
which now controls more than half of global commercial shipbuilding, as compared to the
market in the United States which accounts for less than 1%.

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"In a tremendous victory for our country and for the city of Baltimore, Anduril is investing $3.7
billion” – venture from its own capital to build the Arsenal-2 facility, which is expected to
create more than 3,100 direct jobs and will support an additional 11,000 jobs across the nation
and begin operations around 2030.
Trump further said – “since World War II, there has been nothing like what we are doing
today!"
The shipyard is expected to be the largest of its kind in the United States and will be designed
to produce submarines components and autonomous underwater vessels, thus enhancing
undersea naval capabilities.
President Trump said workers at Sparrows Point will lead the way into a "golden age of
shipbuilding" for the country. The US Navy is also contributing $2.9 billion to help develop the
shipyard.
Further, he added that the shipyard will build next-generation American submarines on the site,
including autonomous submarines, torpedo tubes and critical components for the Virginia-class
attack submarines.
"When you come back [here] in two years, you're not going to believe what you see," he said.
"Generations ago, these grounds hummed with the sound of hammers and saws carving out
some of the most beautiful wooden ships. … Now, with the men and women of Anduril, the
workers of Maryland and the warriors of the U.S. Navy … this place will roar with the sound of
high-tech manufacturing, building ships and submarines."
Arsenal-2 is designed as a product in its own right: a modern shipbuilding system built around
software-defined production and advanced manufacturing. At more than 2 million square feet,
approximately 40 football field; the production arena will be purpose-built on a 187-acre site
for ‘high-volume, high-precision’ production of undersea naval capabilities.
Hegseth said the new shipyard will be an integral part of the ‘Arsenal of Freedom’ initiative to
rebuild the U.S. military industrial base
"In order to make America great again, you need to make your Navy great again," Hegseth
said. "You need to make shipbuilding great again, our manufacturing great again, our defense
industrial base strong and robust again."
Hegseth said that President Trump has been consistent about what is needed from the military,
and that he has worked to make that happen for ‘undersea naval readiness’.

"From Day 1, President Trump has demanded from the War Department speed, scale and
urgency to build an Arsenal of Freedom befitting our warriors and considering the threats of
the 21st century," he said. "That's why today we're here to proudly announce construction of
the largest U.S. shipyard since World War II."
Further, Trump said, industrial workers of Baltimore will contribute to that arsenal of freedom
for decades to come. "With American hands, American heart and American grit, we will build
the future of America's Navy right here in Baltimore and that will be a future of peace through
strength," Trump said.