Maryland promised Anduril nearly $500 million in tax breaks before its legislature votes on $75 million

It began with a text. On December 16, 2025, AndurilPVT$123.86B — Anduril, private, latest valuation $123.86B co-founder Matt Grimm messaged Maryland Governor Wes Moore: the defense startup was hunting for a site to spend billions, was Maryland interested? ¹

Nine days of quiet dealmaking later, on Christmas Eve, company and Tradepoint Atlantic officials held a call about the old Bethlehem Steel shipyard. In March, county officials slipped onto a Southwest flight for a secret 20-hour visit to Anduril's California headquarters ¹. In April, Maryland sent its "best and final" incentive letter↗. Nobody outside a handful of officials knew a thing until the October 6 reveal. ¹

The bill arrived before the vote

What the state bought: Arsenal-2, a $3.7 billion Anduril shipyard plant at Sparrows Point with about 3,172 permanent jobs ¹. What it paid before anyone could object: nearly $500 million in tax breaks ¹. Baltimore County approved $210 million in personal property breaks, the largest package in its history ¹. The state promised $75 million over six years for construction and a training center, and that money still needs approval from the Maryland General Assembly, which has not voted ¹. Roughly $200 million more is expected from existing state programs. ¹

Priced on a promise

Anduril's anchor is a $2.9 billion Navy contract to build Virginia-class submarine components, work long split between Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls▼−0.47% — Huntington Ingalls, down 0.47 percent today. ¹ The private market has priced that story fast: an employee tender opened October 13 at $94.80 a share↗, about $1.3 billion capped, implying roughly $90 billion, up 48 percent from the $61 billion May round↗. ^{2 3}

Here is the tension. Buyers paying $94.80 are pricing delivery: a shipyard opening in 2030, hiring from 2029 ¹. Taxpayers are pricing the same promise, and their legislature has not even approved the $75 million. ¹

Watch November 9, when the tender closes. Then watch Annapolis, where the vote decides whether Maryland's half of the bargain was ever really on the table.