Full Description

General Dynamics Corporation (General Dynamics) offers a portfolio of products and services in business aviation; combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; shipbuilding design and construction, and information systems, technologies and services. The Company focuses on delivering products and services to military, federal government, commercial and international customers. General Dynamics operates through four business groups: Aerospace, Combat Systems, Marine Systems, and Information Systems and Technology. On December 19, 2008, the Company acquired AxleTech International (AxleTech), a manufacturer and supplier of axles, suspensions, brakes and aftermarket parts for heavy-payload vehicles for a variety of military and commercial customers. On November 5, 2008, it acquired Jet Aviation of Zurich, Switzerland. On July 23, 2008, it acquired HSI Electric, Inc. (HSI), a marine and industrial electrical company. On July 22, 2008, the Company acquired ViPS, Inc. (ViPS), a provider of healthcare technology solutions, including data management, analytics, decision support and process automation. In September 2009, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, completed the acquisition of Axsys Technologies, Inc.

Aerospace

The Aerospace group designs, manufactures and outfits a family of mid-size and large-cabin Gulfstream business-jet aircraft, and provides maintenance, refurbishment, outfitting and aircraft services for a variety of business-jet, wide-body and narrow-body aircraft customers globally. It offers a portfolio of eight Gulfstream aircrafts: G150, G200, G250, G350, G450, G500, G550 and G650. The Company is a provider of aircraft for government and military service around the world, with Gulfstream aircraft operating in 34 nations. These government aircraft are used for head-of-state/executive transportation and a variety of special-mission applications, including aerial reconnaissance, maritime surveillance, weather research and astronaut training.

The Aerospace group invests in research and development (R&D) over the course of each aircraft’s lifecycle to introduce new products and enhancements. During the year ended December 31, 2008, the two aircrafts that joined the Gulfstream family are the super-mid-size G250 and the ultra-large-cabin G650. During 2008, its product-enhancement and development efforts included initiatives in advanced avionics, composites, flight-control systems, acoustics, cabin technologies and vision systems. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency certified two of Gulfstream’s products: the second-generation Enhanced Vision System (EVS II) and the new Synthetic Vision-Primary Flight Display (SV-PFD), both of which assist the pilot during low-visibility conditions.

EVS II is a specially designed, forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera that projects a real-world infrared image on the pilot’s head-up display (HUD), while Synthetic Vision provides three-dimensional images of the terrain, runway environment and obstacles on the pilot’s primary head-down display. Its PlaneBook is a compact computer tablet preloaded with a reference library that includes the airplane flight manual, operating manual and pilot checklists, improving manual-to-manual navigation, and reducing paper and weight in the flight deck. PlaneConnect automatically relays any airborne technical issues identified by the plane’s maintenance system to ground technicians, reducing turnaround time through early dispatch of parts and technicians.

Combat Systems

The Combat Systems group is engaged in the design, development, production, support and enhancement of tracked and wheeled military vehicles, weapons systems and munitions for the United States and its allies. The Company’s product lines include wheeled armored combat and tactical vehicles; tracked main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles; guns and ammunition-handling systems; ammunition and ordnance; mobile bridge systems; passive, active and reactive armor; chemical, biological and explosive detection systems; high-performance composite products, and drive train components and aftermarket parts.

Combat Systems’ core military vehicle platforms consist of the Stryker wheeled combat vehicle and the Abrams main battle tank. It is the provider of these vehicles two of the ground-force assets for its primary customer, the United States Army. The Stryker supports numerous missions with ten variants: infantry carrier, command and control, medical evacuation, fire support, engineering, anti-tank, mortar carrier, reconnaissance, mobile gun system (MGS), and nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance vehicle (NBCRV). Combat Systems manufactures the M2 heavy machine gun, and the MK19 and MK47 grenade launchers, as well as weapons for most United States fighter aircraft, including all high-speed Gatling guns for fixed-wing aircraft and the Hydra-70 family of rockets.

Combat Systems is a team member in the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program and leads the system development of the FCS manned ground vehicle. It has manufacturing facilities in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, and has customers in more than 30 countries. Combat Systems’ European business offers a range of products, including light and medium-weight tracked and wheeled tactical vehicles, amphibious bridge systems, artillery systems, light weapons, ammunition and propellants.

Marine Systems

The Company’s Marine Systems group designs, builds and supports submarines and surface ships for the United States Navy and commercial ships for Jones Act customers. The group operates three of the six shipyards in the United States that construct ships for the Navy, including one of the two nuclear submarine yards and the only yard that services deep-draft ships on the West Coast. Marine Systems’ portfolio of platforms and capabilities includes nuclear-powered submarines (Virginia Class); surface combatants (DDG-51, DDG-1000, LCS); auxiliary and combat-logistics ships (T-AKE); commercial ships; engineering design support, and overhaul, repair and lifecycle support services.

Marine Systems’ mature Navy construction programs consist of the fast-attack Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine, the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) guided-missile destroyer and the Lewis and Clark-class (T-AKE) dry cargo/ammunition combat-logistics ship. The Virginia-class submarine is a United States submarine designed to address post-Cold War threats, including capabilities tailored for both open-ocean and near-shore missions. These stealthy ships are suited for a variety of global assignments, including clandestine intelligence gathering, special-operations missions and sea-based missile launch. The Navy’s Virginia-class program of record includes 30 submarines, which the customer is procuring in multi-ship blocks. Marine Systems is the designer and producer of Arleigh Burke destroyers, a class of surface combatants and the only active destroyer in the Navy’s global surface fleet. During 2008, it delivered USS Sterett and USS Stockdale, the 29th and 30th of 34 DDG-51 ships the Navy has contracted with the Company to build.

The Marine Systems group provides ship and submarine overhaul, repair and lifecycle support services to extend the service life of these vessels. It also provides international allies with program management, planning and engineering design support for submarine and surface-ship construction programs. It also designs and produces ships for commercial customers to meet the Jones Act requirement that ships carrying cargo between United States ports be built in United States shipyards.

Information Systems and Technology

The Company’s Information Systems and Technology group provides technologies, products and services that support a range of government and commercial digital-communication and information-sharing needs. Its product and service offerings fall into a three-part portfolio that includes tactical and strategic mission systems, information technology and mission services, and intelligence mission systems. The group designs, manufactures and delivers communications network systems, ruggedized computers, command-and-control systems and operational hardware to customers within the United States Department of Defense, the intelligence community, federal civilian agencies and international customers. It also provides many of these capabilities to non-United States customers, through programs, such as the BOWMAN digital voice and data communication system for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense, the New Integrated Marines Communications and Information System (NIMCIS) for the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, and the IRIS Tactical Command, Control and Communications System program for the Canadian Department of National Defense.

The Information Systems and Technology group provides information technology (IT) and skilled mission-support services to United States defense and national-security customers, federal civilian agencies and select commercial customers. The group also specializes in design, development and integration of wireline and wireless voice, video and data networks; mission simulation and training services, and secure identification and credentialing capabilities. Information Systems and Technology also supplies network-modernization and IT infrastructure services to United States government customers. The group provides the United States and allied intelligence communities with specialized intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

Information Systems and Technology is a provider of personnel with mission-specific experience in executing programs in the intelligence field. In addition, it provides payloads and communications capabilities to spacecraft as part of a team that will provide the ground-control segment for the nation’s Global Positioning System (GPS) Block II and future Block III satellites. This program includes satellite command and control, mission planning, constellation management, monitoring stations and ground antennas.

The Company competes with Northrop Grumman Corporation.