Anduril agora vai fazer submarinos autônomos

Anduril, the American defense technology company known for designing autonomous drones and defense equipment, has secured a Pentagon contract to produce nuclear submarines. The firm plans to invest $3.7 billion in building a shipyard near Baltimore, which is expected to open in 2030 and employ over 3,000 workers at full capacity.

President Donald Trump attended the project's unveiling and stated that Anduril will "build the next generation of American submarines, including autonomous submarines, torpedoes, and critical components for Virginia-class submarines - the largest and quietest ever built." Trump said American taxpayers will receive a 40% stake in the shipyard but did not elaborate on the extent of government involvement.

Bloomberg reports that Anduril will create a subsidiary to operate the shipyard, with 40% of the capital coming from the government. The company won a $2.9 billion contract with the Navy, with payments tied directly to production results. Anduril claims this contractual structure ensures the company bears most of the execution risk, aligning incentives to deliver high-quality submarines on time.

The project, called Arsenal-2, will be built where a former Bethlehem Steel shipyard once operated, aimed to be a software-driven naval construction system called ArsenalOS. Some critical components of the Virginia-class submarines will be manufactured at Anduril's Orange County, California facility, while others will be produced at Arsenal-2.

Final assembly will be handled by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries. Anduril was founded by 34-year-old Californian Palmer Luckey, who is already considered a defense industry visionary in the age of AI. Founded in 2017, Anduril was valued at $61 billion in its latest funding round led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz in May.

The company generated $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025 and is expected to double that this year. Alongside SpaceX and Palantir, Anduril is part of a new group of technology companies securing significant contracts in the American military. Recently, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would lead the Meridian Project - a team focused on "the future of war."