Fairbanks Morse Defense has broken ground on a third Center of Excellence at its Bird-Johnson Propeller Company facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, a $60 million expansion designed to double the plant's capacity to build some of the Navy's most complex propulsion systems. The project will add 38,000 square feet of manufacturing space and grow the foundry's workforce by 25 percent, bringing the total to 100 highly skilled craftspeople.
The new center, known as CoE3, will effectively double capacity to produce complex and powerful naval propulsion systems, according to marinelink.com. The $60 million installation includes a $27 million U.S. Navy investment, with Australia contributing more than $20 million through the AUKUS Pillar I partnership, as reported by fox10tv.com.
Bigger Machines, Bigger Parts
The expansion will add two new five-axis CNC machines equipped with 7-meter turntables and capable of handling parts weighing up to 100 metric tons, or roughly 220,000 pounds. That brings the Bird-Johnson facility's total count of five-axis CNC machines to four. The build-out also includes a dedicated manufacturing bay reserved for a future 3D sand printer, along with a machine-ready expansion slot for further growth, per the same marinelink.com account.
Fairbanks Morse Defense said the groundbreaking comes at a critical moment, as delivery timelines for specialized propulsion systems tied to both the Virginia-class submarine program and next-generation surface combatants have been accelerating, according to Marine Log. The Pascagoula manufacturing hub handles design, casting, machining, finishing and delivery under one roof, and the company describes it as the only privately owned U.S. foundry certified for large-scale Navy propeller manufacturing. The facility also carries a U.S. National Asset designation, the outlet reported.
A Foundry With Deep Roots
Fairbanks Morse Defense acquired Bird-Johnson in July 2025, restoring the Bird-Johnson name to the foundry. The Bird-Johnson name carries a legacy FMD describes as a nearly 70-year commitment to American-made naval propellers, per marinelink.com's reporting.
Dan Rediger, FMD's president of power and propulsion, said the company was proud to expand its ability to support vital U.S. and allied national security programs. Rediger added that the project demonstrates the success of public-private partnership in strengthening the economy and revitalizing the maritime industrial base, according to the same marinelink.com report.
Jobs, Training and the Wider Industrial Base
Beyond the hardware, FMD says CoE3 will support company training and apprenticeship programs and create new high-tech manufacturing opportunities along the Gulf Coast. The company frames the expansion as part of a broader push to restore America's defense industrial base and address current capacity constraints across the maritime industry, supporting submarine production and fleet readiness more broadly.
That framing echoes language in the Navy's own planning documents. A May 2026 Navy shipbuilding plan calls for revitalizing the industrial base and unleashing private investment to expand manufacturing capacity nationwide, according to the U.S. Navy. The submarine construction supply chain alone spans roughly 16,000 suppliers across all 50 states, alongside major shipbuilders and research facilities, per the Congressional Research Service.
FMD has pursued similar capacity growth overseas. The company is set to nearly double its production output in Poland after committing €6.98 million, or roughly $8.09 million, to expand a facility there, according to naval-technology.com. In Pascagoula, the new capacity is scheduled to come online by the first quarter of 2028.
