Oct 10, 2026 · 16 min
Anduril bets billions on a new era of naval warfare
Will Robots Fight America’s Next War?
The Maryland shipyard tests whether sustained public investment and autonomous technology can rebuild U.S. defense capacity while reducing battlefield risks to troops.
- 1Anduril plans to invest $3.7 billion in a Maryland shipyard backed by nearly $3 billion in government funding.
- 2The facility could create roughly 3,100 direct jobs and 11,000 indirect jobs, but full operations may not begin until decade’s end.
- 3Autonomous aircraft, submarines, weapons, and AI could expand military capacity while keeping troops out of dangerous environments.
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Christian Brose connects autonomous aircraft, submarines, weapons, and AI to the possibility of reducing troop exposure in dangerous missions.
The brief
Anduril is planning a $3.7 billion Maryland shipyard with nearly $3 billion in government funding, tying industrial revival to a new defense strategy.
Christian Brose argues that rebuilding America’s defense capacity will take sustained effort, not a quick infusion, even as work has begun elsewhere.
The facility is expected to create roughly 3,100 direct jobs and 11,000 indirect jobs, with full operations projected around the end of the decade.
The conversation’s central wager is technological: autonomous aircraft, submarines, low-cost weapons, and AI could perform dangerous missions without exposing troops.
Brose also describes Project Meridian, a Pentagon effort involving Palmer Luckey that aims to assess future warfare and produce a report in about 120 days.