General Dynamics Delivers First MRAP Vehicles from Alabama
 

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has delivered its first Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to the U.S. Marine Corps from Anniston, Ala., less than 120 days after the company received its first production order for the new product.

“This milestone demonstrates our commitment to rapidly provide the Marine Corps with the protected vehicles essential for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Rick Gillette, senior vice president of production, delivery and support for General Dynamics Land Systems. “General Dynamics and our partners – Force Protection, Anniston Army Depot and local subcontractors – are fully engaged in building these life-saving vehicles while increasing our combined production capacity to deliver 1,000 vehicles per month early next year, if necessary. Our success to date is the combination of teamwork, funding and commitment by all involved.”

Two General Dynamics assembly operations are being created in Alabama for the combined production with Force Protection Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT) of 1,125 vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Mine Resistant Ambush Protected program. Force Protection and General Dynamics have formed a joint venture, Force Dynamics, to share in the production and program management of MRAP contracts. The Alabama sites will build more than 350 of Force Protection’s Category I 4x4 and Category II 6x6 Cougar vehicles by January 2008.

The 80,000-square foot main General Dynamics assembly site for MRAP vehicles will eventually employ 220 new workers in Oxford, Ala. A supporting production site on Anniston Army Depot will employ 50 new workers. General Dynamics Land Systems currently employs 240 workers on the depot building Fox and Stryker combat vehicles and the Abrams tank gunner’s primary sight.

Anniston Army Depot will partner with General Dynamics and perform a share of the MRAP work. General Dynamics also contracted with BR Williams to operate a warehouse in Oxford to support the new production operations.

General Dynamics currently employs approximately 700 workers throughout Alabama. These new positions will increase total General Dynamics’ employment in the state to nearly 1,000.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 82,600 people worldwide and had 2006 revenues of $24.1 billion. More information about the company is available online at www.generaldynamics.com.

Force Protection is a leading ballistics research and manufacturing enterprise, specializing in the development and production of highly reinforced armored personnel carriers that are designed to save soldiers' lives by shielding them from the deadly effects of roadside bombs, or IEDs, which have become a leading killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. The trucks' unique, V-shaped hull is designed to deflect the force of IED blasts away from the vehicle, keeping soldiers inside safe and alive, and have become the proven response to an emerging global threat to U.S. troops. Its leading models include the 23 ton “Buffalo”, a uniquely-designed mine clearance vehicle with a reinforced mechanical arm, and the family of “Cougar” vehicles, both of whose mine and ballistic protection capabilities are among the most advanced in the world. The vehicles are manufactured outside Charleston, S.C. Visit the company's website at www.forceprotection.net.