Trump To Unveil Anduril Deal, Bringing Submarine Parts Factory To Baltimore
Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point complex near crime-ridden Baltimore City was once the largest steelmaking facility in the US and viewed by some as once the world's largest steel mill.
Decades of deindustrialization led to the mill's closure in 2012. By 2014, the 3,300-acre site entered a redevelopment phase and was transformed into a giant logistics and industrial complex under new ownership called Tradepoint Atlantic.
Tradepoint Atlantic is set to enter a new chapter, with Anduril Industries having won a $2.9 billion US Navy contract to manufacture components for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines there.
According to The New York Times, Palmer Luckey's defense company plans to invest $3.7 billion in the project and directly create more than 3,000 jobs. The new shipyard is expected to open in 2030.
"We need to grow the maritime industrial base, the submarine industrial base, so that we can produce more submarines," Anduril Chief Strategy Officer Christian Brose was quoted as saying.
Left-wing Maryland Governor Wes Moore and other state Democrats are expected to attend the announcement following lengthy negotiations over the redevelopment plans. Maryland and Baltimore County are expected to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax subsidies.
The former Bethlehem Steel site has undergone a total transformation. It combines warehouses, distribution centers, industrial facilities, deepwater shipping terminals and rail connections to CSX and Norfolk Southern. Tenants include Amazon, FedEx, Under Armor, Home Depot, Volkswagen, BMW and others.
"President Trump knows a self-sustaining domestic shipbuilding sector is critical for national and economic security," said Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman.
Luckey commented on The Wall Street Journal's report on Monday, which said the site would manufacture drone boats, calling the reporting "false."
FYI, this "Exclusive" story is false. We told the reporter it was false, but they decided to trust their sources instead.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) August 6, 2026
Brose said manufacturing drone boats or unmanned weapons of war was not part of the site's initial plans.
Hopefully, Tradepoint Atlantic brings stable, goods-producing jobs to the metro area, which has experienced decades of deindustrialization under Democratic control, leaving the crime-ridden city whose population has collapsed to a 100-year low.