SPARROWS POINT, Md. — America is not just paying for its new shipyard. It is going to own a big piece of it. In his full remarks at the launch of Anduril’s Arsenal-2 on Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump announced a deal-maker’s twist, with the sailors of the USS Billings and Naval Academy midshipmen in front of him. “In the ultimate proof of our commitment to ensuring the shipyard’s enduring success, American taxpayers will receive a 40% stake in the new shipyard,” the President said. “We get 40%, and the storied grounds of Sparrows Point will never fall silent again.”
The numbers behind Arsenal-2 are huge. Anduril is investing $3.7 billion, the Navy is adding $2.9 billion, and the President said there is the possibility of $21 billion in future purchases, a $6.6 billion start that Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao called a “bold new age.” Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher explained what that means for the fleet: Arsenal-2 will first build precision torpedo tubes and other heavy components for the prime yards at Electric Boat and Newport News, adding up to 9 million production hours a year. “That’s a 15% surge in total capacity,” he said, as the Navy pushes to build one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines every year.
It is all part of what the Navy now calls the Golden Fleet. “Under President Trump’s visionary leadership, our mandate is clear. We are building the Golden Fleet,” Secretary Cao said, a force “designed to dominate the seas… just as the Great White Fleet did 100 years ago.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth put it in plain English: “In order to make America great again, you need to make your Navy great again,” he said. “I’ve never seen a commander-in-chief certainly in our lifetime move this quickly with this kind of urgency.”
President Trump laid out the scale of the buildup. His administration has already secured over $76 billion for shipbuilding and produced more than 80 new ships for the Navy and Coast Guard, he said, and after a record defense budget broke the trillion-dollar mark, “this year is going to be 1.5 trillion.” He pointed to $150 billion from the Republic of Korea for shipbuilding, Korean company Hanwha’s billions to revitalize the historic Philadelphia shipyard, and new icebreakers being built with Finland. And he reminded the crowd that the Peterbilt plant he visited in Texas builds 200 trucks a day: “We can do the same thing with ships. We used to do that.”
The President closed with a promise to the workers of Maryland. “What we see today will be nothing when you come back in one year. And when you come back in two years, you’re not going to believe what you see,” he said. “With American hands, American heart, and American grit, we will build the future of America’s Navy right here in Baltimore. And it will be a future of peace through strength.” Watch the full Official White House video of the Sparrows Point program.
