US 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.

After completing a deployment, the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii returns to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, March 10, 2015. The future USS Illinois is also a Virginia-class submarine. (Image credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Swink, US Navy)

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 for several shipbuilding programs.…