---
title: "The Pentagon now owns 40% of the factory behind Anduril's $90 billion price"
description: "A $3.7 billion private bet plus $2.9 billion of Navy money buys the government two-fifths of the factory that Anduril's $94.80 employee tender is priced on, and the deal terms show the mark rests on Navy certification milestones rather than orders."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-16T21:43:32.630Z
modified: 2026-10-16T21:43:32.630Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-pentagon-now-owns-40-of-the-factory-behind-anduril-s-90-billion-price
language: en
keywords: "Anduril, Defense, Shipbuilding, Submarines"
---

# The Pentagon now owns 40% of the factory behind Anduril's $90 billion price

> A $3.7 billion private bet plus $2.9 billion of Navy money buys the government two-fifths of the factory that Anduril's $94.80 employee tender is priced on, and the deal terms show the mark rests on Navy certification milestones rather than orders.

The Pentagon has moved from buying [Anduril](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anduril)'s products to buying into its factory floor. [InsideDefense reported on October 15](https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/government-taking-40-equity-stake-andurils-arsenal-2-complex) that the government is taking a 40% ownership stake in Arsenal-2, the planned factory for Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine components at Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore County, funded by [$3.7 billion of Anduril's own money](https://theinference.org/article/anduril-and-general-atomics-are-building-america-s-robot-fighters-on-their-own-dime) plus up to $2.9 billion from the Navy [1]. President Donald Trump [announced the taxpayer stake himself at the Sparrows Point site on October 6](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/inside-trump-s-deal-to-give-american-taxpayer-s-a-massive-stake-in-new-6-6b-submarine-deal/ar-AA2dKTMn): "We get 40 percent" [2]. That is the fact [the $90 billion employee tender](https://www.ocbj.com/newsletter-feed/anduril-employee-tender-offer-would-value-co-at-90b-cnbc/), open from October 13 to November 9 at $94.80 a share, now has to be read against [3].

![Aerial view of Tradepoint Atlantic at Sparrows Point, with rail lines, distribution warehouses and a water tower bearing the Tradepoint Atlantic name](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/be5199bad689f061.jpg)

*Tradepoint Atlantic at Sparrows Point in Baltimore County, where Arsenal-2 is planned to rise on the site of the old Bethlehem Steel works. The photograph was taken in January 2023. (AAICDrones)*

## The factory exists to unblock the Navy's worst bottleneck

US yards deliver roughly 1.3 Virginia-class boats a year against a goal of two, and torpedo tubes are what a senior administration official calls the "gating component" slowing production [2]. Arsenal-2, due to start producing in 2030, will make torpedo tubes and large structural assemblies for [General Dynamics](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/general-dynamics) Electric Boat and [Huntington Ingalls](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/huntington-ingalls-industries)' Newport News yard, the two builders of the class, and the administration expects it to add about 15% to the class's production capacity [1][2][4]. Anduril's bet underneath those numbers is ArsenalOS, its industrial software platform, which ties fabrication, inspection and documentation into one system [5]. The funding split follows the same logic: Anduril pays for the factory, the government pays for what it produces [2].

![A Virginia-class attack submarine running on the surface off San Diego, escorted by a Navy security boat](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/9bc1b65c02ccd74a.jpg)

*A Virginia-class fast-attack submarine leaves San Diego in February 2013. US yards turn out about 1.3 of the boats a year against a Navy goal of two. (U.S. Navy)*

## A minority stake that buys no order book

The stake sits in a newly formed shipyard company, taken under Defense Production Act and Industrial Base Fund authorities and described as a "minority, non-control" investment; the government is not buying into Anduril itself [2][6]. It buys no order book. The Navy's money flows through Electric Boat, which sets the specifications, and Anduril must fabricate and Navy-certify four test components before it gets the "opportunity, but not the entitlement" to compete for production work [2]. The contract also ties payments to "demonstrated production outcomes" [6]. So, under the reported terms, the tender mark rests on milestones, not backlog. Anduril is already working the first of those milestones: a new California plant is meant to validate its production methods for two years before Arsenal-2 opens, and [the company's own release](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/10/anduril-establishes-new-shipyard-to-manufacture-components-for-virginia-class-subs/) says Anduril, not the taxpayer, takes on the majority of the execution risk [7].

| Term | Figure |
| --- | --- |
| Government stake in the new shipyard company | 40% |
| Anduril's own funding for the factory | $3.7 billion |
| Navy shipyard contract | Up to $2.9 billion |
| Total cost of the Arsenal-2 complex | $6.6 billion |
| Employee tender valuation | $90 billion |
| Tender price per share | $94.80 |
| Tender window | October 13 to November 9, 2026 |
| Test components to be Navy-certified | Four |
| Arsenal-2 production start | 2030 |
| Expected addition to class production capacity | About 15% |

*Arsenal-2 funding, the government stake and the employee tender. The $6.6 billion total is as reported by Fox News, Naval Technology and The Korea Herald; every other figure is as cited in the text.*

## Luckey's Pentagon role raises conflict questions

The Navy's up-to-$2.9 billion shipyard contract was announced on October 6, days after co-founder Palmer Luckey was named to Project Meridian, the Pentagon's future-of-warfare study [8]. The study runs about 120 days and is co-led by Luckey, [Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich [9]. CEO Brian Schimpf [told CNBC the company wins "based on the merits" through competitive processes](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/anduril-ceo-contracts-palmer-luckey-ethics.html) [8]. [Ethics scholars told NPR the arrangement is a conflict risk](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/06/nx-s1-5991899/elon-musk-palmer-luckey-pentagon-drones-ai), and the Defense Department has not said whether Luckey serves as a special government employee or a contractor [9]. Notably, the 40% stake itself was kept off the administration's own press call on the deal [2].

## Listed builders get capacity without paying to build it

[Barron's notes Anduril's private mark](https://www.barrons.com/articles/anduril-valuation-defense-stocks-fff2b3cb) now tops [Northrop Grumman](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/northrop-grumman) and roughly matches General Dynamics [10]. [GD](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/general-dynamics) and HII gain a component supplier the government co-owns: they get the component capacity without paying to build it, but their customer the Navy now sits inside the supplier's ownership [1][2][4]. HII's Newport News president has welcomed Anduril as a "future subcomponent partner" [7]. HD Hyundai, Anduril's undersea partner since 2024, says it will review proposals to extend the tie into submarine components, though nothing specific is under discussion [4]. For [employees selling at $94.80](https://theinference.org/article/anduril-s-94-80-employee-sale-prices-it-near-90-billion-a-mark-new-money-has-yet-to-test), the government stake is the strongest execution cover a private mark can get: the customer now shares the factory risk and has paid for the right to watch it work. The number that matters next is not the tender's November 9 close but Navy certification of those four test components, which is what turns the $90 billion mark from a valuation into a business.

## Takeaway

The 40% government stake gives Anduril's $90 billion tender mark its strongest backer, but under the reported terms the mark rests on Navy certification of four test components, not on orders.

## Sources

1. [InsideDefense.com, Government taking 40% equity stake in Anduril's Arsenal-2 complex, 15 October 2026](https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/government-taking-40-equity-stake-andurils-arsenal-2-complex)
2. [Fox News (via MSN), Inside Trump's deal to give American taxpayers a massive stake in new $6.6B submarine deal, 8 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/inside-trump-s-deal-to-give-american-taxpayer-s-a-massive-stake-in-new-6-6b-submarine-deal/ar-AA2dKTMn)
3. [Orange County Business Journal, Anduril Employee Tender Offer Would Value Co at $90B: CNBC, 15 October 2026](https://www.ocbj.com/newsletter-feed/anduril-employee-tender-offer-would-value-co-at-90b-cnbc/)
4. [The Korea Herald, Anduril's $6.6b submarine push puts HD Hyundai in focus, 15 October 2026](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10899785)
5. [Naval Technology (via MSN), US Navy, Anduril plan $6.6bn Arsenal-2 shipyard in Maryland, 7 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/us-navy-anduril-plan-66bn-arsenal-2-shipyard-in-maryland/ar-AA2dLMDO)
6. [Defense One, Anduril wades into traditional shipbuilding arena with major submarine play, 7 October 2026](https://www.defenseone.com/business/2026/10/anduril-wades-traditional-shipbuilding-arena-major-submarine-play/416459/)
7. [Breaking Defense, Anduril launches new shipyard to manufacture components for Virginia-class subs, 6 October 2026](https://breakingdefense.com/2026/10/anduril-establishes-new-shipyard-to-manufacture-components-for-virginia-class-subs/)
8. [CNBC, Anduril CEO defends contracts amid Palmer Luckey ethics questions, 15 October 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/anduril-ceo-contracts-palmer-luckey-ethics.html)
9. [NPR, Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey's new Pentagon roles raise ethics worries, 6 October 2026](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/06/nx-s1-5991899/elon-musk-palmer-luckey-pentagon-drones-ai)
10. [Barron's, Anduril's Valuation Tops Northrop's, and Offers Hope for Defense Stocks, 15 October 2026](https://www.barrons.com/articles/anduril-valuation-defense-stocks-fff2b3cb)


---

The Pentagon now owns 40% of the factory behind Anduril's $90 billion price — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-pentagon-now-owns-40-of-the-factory-behind-anduril-s-90-billion-price