Dan Rediger, FMD President of Power and Propulsion, addresses the crowd gathered for the October 20, 2026 groundbreaking in Pascagoula (Photo by Frank Corder | Magnolia Tribune)
- The $60 million expansion adds 38,000 square feet of new manufacturing space while growing the company’s workforce in Jackson County by 25%.
The only privately-owned U.S. foundry certified for large-scale Navy propeller manufacturing broke ground Tuesday on a third Center of Excellence (CoE3) at the Bird-Johnson Propeller Company facility in Pascagoula.
The new Fairbanks Morse Defense center will effectively double capacity to produce the most complex and powerful naval propulsion systems while growing its workforce by 25%, employing a total of 100 highly skilled craftspeople.
The $60 million expansion includes a $27 million U.S. Navy investment, $22 million of which is sourced from Australia’s initial contribution to the U.S. Submarine Industrial Base under the AUKUS Pillar I effort.
The new center will be operated as a Bird-Johnson Propeller Company facility under the executive leadership of Fairbanks Morse Defense. FMD acquired Bird-Johnson in July 2025 and restored the Bird-Johnson name to the foundry, honoring the company’s nearly 70-year commitment to American-made naval propellers.
The Pascagoula foundry is designated a U.S. National Asset.
“The U.S. Navy runs on Bird-Johnson propellors,” Captain Mike Hollenbach told those gathered at the groundbreaking.
Hollenbach is the program manager for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class Submarine Program. He oversees the design, production and fielding of the fast-attack submarines. He is the former Commanding Officer of the USS North Dakota (SSN 784).
The investment by Fairbanks Morse Defense adds 38,000 square feet of new manufacturing space, two new five-axis computer numerical control machines equipped for parts weighing up to 100 metric tons (approximately 220,000 lbs.), and a machine-ready expansion slot for further growth.
The company said this advanced capability will address current maritime industry capacity constraints and support submarine production and fleet readiness.
The Fairbanks Morse Defense investment also supports its training and apprenticeship programs and creates new opportunities in high-tech manufacturing to strengthen the Gulf Coast economy and restore America’s defense industrial base.
Dan Rediger, FMD President of Power and Propulsion, said the expansion demonstrates the success of public-private partnerships in strengthening America’s economy and revitalizing our maritime industrial base at the local, state and national levels. He praised the work of local, state and federal partners, including the Jackson County Board of Supervisors, Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, Port of Pascagoula, City of Pascagoula, and Mississippi’s federal delegation.
“This groundbreaking comes at a critical moment for the industry,” said Rediger. “The timelines to deliver specialized propulsion systems for the Virginia-class submarine program and next-generation surface combatants are accelerating. We are proud to answer the call by expanding our ability to support vital U.S. and allied national security programs.”
The new expansion operations are scheduled to come online in the first quarter of 2028.
Frank Corder
