Critical Industrial Base Facility Breaks Ground Thanks to Australian Submarine Industrial Base Contribution

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — U.S. Navy leaders joined industry partners, members of the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, Inc., and representatives from the Australian Embassy to break ground on a new facility in Pascagoula, Miss., that will manufacture critical components for in-service and new-construction submarines.

The $60 million Bird-Johnson Propeller Company Machine Capacity Expansion project will deliver a new, modern, 38,000 square-foot facility capable of producing propulsors, propellers, rotors, and other associated critical components to several shipbuilding programs. The U.S. Navy is contributing $27 million to the effort via its partnership with BlueForge Alliance, with $22 million sourced from Australia’s initial contribution to the U.S. Submarine Industrial Base under the AUKUS Pillar I effort.

Australia’s contribution to the US submarine industrial base is focused on increasing maintenance and production capacity to increase the number of submarines in the water and enable the sale of Virginia-class submarines to Australia.

“Australia is contributing a total of $3 billion to uplift the U.S. SIB and support AUKUS objectives, with the first $2 billion received last year,” said Matt Marburger, deputy director for AUKUS and International. “We are investing these funds purposefully to activate and align our industrial base to deliver the capability our submarine force requires.”

“Investments like this help strengthen the industrial foundation that underpins our submarine force,” said Capt. Sal Suarez, deputy program manager for the U.S. SIB program. “Australia’s contribution to the SIB augments the funds provided by Congress and allows us to fund programs like this in addition to other critical investments that will deliver warfighting capability to the Fleet.”

“The AUKUS Integration & Acquisition (I&A) team and U.S. Submarine Industrial Base office worked closely to ensure we’re maximizing the benefit from Australia’s contribution,” said Director, Submarine Programs, Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher. “These efforts align and activate our submarine industrial base to help ensure more submarines are ready for tasking.”

“We welcome this investment, which will deliver critical components for the United States submarine program using Australia's contribution to support the industrial capacity needed to deliver AUKUS,” said Phoebe Greentree, Minister-Counsellor for AUKUS at the Australian Embassy. “This milestone demonstrates the continued momentum and shared commitment of Australia and the United States to deliver Australia’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.”

AUKUS I&A, through close collaboration with the U.S. SIB Program Office, developed a spend plan to invest funds in the most high-impact areas and maximize the impact of Australia’s contribution to the U.S. industrial base. The spend plan aligns investments to complement existing lines-of-effort identified by a 2025 U.S. SIB investment study jointly conducted by the U.S. Navy and the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW) Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE).

AUKUS I&A is the central U.S. Navy program office coordinating the delivery of the U.S. contribution to AUKUS Pillar I. The office integrates critical technical, industrial, and programmatic efforts across the Department of the Navy and with international partners. The office serves as the central hub for synchronizing submarine operations, workforce development, hands-on training pipelines, nuclear stewardship protocols, and trilateral industrial base expansion.

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