American taxpayers are about to become the largest minority owner in a new military shipyard. President Donald Trump announced that the federal government will take a 40 percent stake in the facility. This is not a loan. It is an ownership share. The project costs $6.6 billion to build. Most people assume the government just pays contractors. This time the government gets equity. Trump said this proves our commitment to success. He stood in Sparrows Point to make the news. He told the crowd we get 40 percent. That is a massive number for a private defense deal.
Anduril Industries is the company building the yard. They are putting up $3.7 billion of their own money. The Navy will spend up to $2.9 billion buying submarines. But the government also gets that 40 percent slice. Anduril said the stake is in a new subsidiary. It is not a stake in Anduril itself. The details are still fuzzy. We do not know what rights come with that share. We do not know how the government will get paid back. Fox News has asked for answers. No one has replied yet.
This move fits a pattern. The Trump administration is taking direct stakes in key industries. They did it with Intel for chips. They did it with MP Materials for rare earths. The goal is national security control. The U.S. is falling behind in shipbuilding. China builds more than half of the world's ships. The U.S. builds less than one percent. Our Navy needs more submarines. We are making 1.3 per year now. The goal is two per year. We will not hit that goal until 2032. China is expanding fast. We cannot afford to wait.
The new yard is called Arsenal-2. It will sit in Baltimore. It is a huge facility. It covers more than 2 million square feet. Anduril will start by making torpedo tubes. These parts are currently slowing down production. Later they will build larger sections of boats. The yard should add 9 million labor hours each year. This boosts capacity by roughly 15 percent. An official said this helps close the gap. The jobs numbers are strong too. The project will create 3,100 direct jobs. It will support 11,000 indirect jobs nationwide. Work should start around 2030.
An industry official tried to clarify the money flow. He said the government is not paying Anduril back. He said the government is buying the results. That sounds like normal procurement. But the 40 percent stake changes the math. The official was not told about the stake before the call. Reporters asked about financing on the call. The stake was hidden then. Now it is public. The question remains why the public should own this. Is it for profit or for control? The administration says it is for security. The taxpayer will find out if it works. The shipyard construction plans are now public record.