General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation (nyse: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2006 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. The company has four main business segments: Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Information Systems and Technology, and Aerospace. The company's former Fort Worth Division manufactured the F-16, the most-produced Western jet fighter, but that subsidiary was sold to Lockheed in 1993. GD re-entered the airframe business in 1999 with their purchase of Gulfstream Aerospace.

Electric Boat
General Dynamics can trace its ancestry to John Philip Holland's Holland Torpedo Boat Company. This company was responsible for developing the U. S. Navy's first submarines built at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard located in Elizabethport, New Jersey [USA]. The famous submarine boat Holland VI was built there, with the keel to this revolutionary craft being laid down in 1896. Crescent's superintendent and naval architect, Arthur L. Busch, supervised the construction of this submarine. After being launched on 17 May 1897, it was eventually purchased by the United States Navy and renamed USS Holland. The Holland submarine was officially commissioned into service on 12 October 1900. The United States Navy placed an order for more submarines, which were developed in rapid succession and were assembled at two different locations on both coasts. These submarines were known as the A-Class or Adder Class, and became America's first fleet of underwater craft at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to the lengthy and expensive process of introducing the world's first practical submarines, Holland found himself having to part with his company and selling his interest within to financier Isaac Leopold Rice, renaming the new firm as the Electric Boat Company on 7 February 1899. Rice became Electric Boat's first President, remaining there from that time until 1915 when he stepped down just prior to his death on 2 November 1915.

In the post-World War II wind-down, the Electric Boat Company was cash-flush but lacking in work, with its workforce shrinking from 13,000 to 4,000 by 1946. Hoping to diversify, the president and chief executive officer, John Jay Hopkins, started looking for companies that would fit into Electric Boat's market.

Canadair purchase
They quickly found that Canadair, owned by the Canadian government, was suffering from similar post-war malaise and was up for sale. Hopkins bought the company for $10 million in 1946. Even by the Canadian government's calculations, the factory alone was worth more than $22 million, excluding the value of the remaining contracts for planes or spare parts.

When they purchased Canadair, its production line and inventory systems were in disorder. Hopkins hired Canadian-born mass-production specialist H. Oliver West to take over the president's role and return Canadair to profitability. The effects were astonishing; shortly after taking over, Canadair started delivering it's new Canadair North Star (a version of the DC-4), and Canadair was able to deliver aircraft to Trans Canada Airlines, Canadian Pacific Airlines and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) well in advance of their contracted delivery times.

As defense spending increased with the development of the cold war, Canadair would go on to win many Canadian military contracts for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and became a major aerospace company. These included Canadair T-33 trainer, the Canadair Argus long-range maritime reconnaissance and transport aircraft, and the Canadair F-86 Sabre, which some argue is the best version of that aircraft to be built. Between 1950 and 1958, 1,815 Sabres were built.

General Dynamics emerges
As the aircraft production at Canadair became increasingly important to the company, Hopkins argued that the name "Electric Boat" was no longer appropriate. On 24 April 1952 the name was officially changed to General Dynamics.

Convair purchase
GD was still cash-flush after the Canadair purchase, and given the success of that company they continued to look for new aviation purchases. In March 1953 they purchased Convair from the "Atlas Group". The sale was OKed by government oversight with the proviso that GD would continue to operate out of Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, TX. This factory was set up in order to spread out strategic aircraft production and rented to Convair during the war to produce B-24 Liberator bombers. Over time, the Fort Worth plant would become Convair's major production center.

As was the case with Canadair, Convair worked as an independent division within the GD umbrella. Over the next decade the company introduced the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor (the earlier F-102 Delta Dagger being designed before the takeover), the B-58 Hustler and the Convair 880 and 990 airliners. Convair also introduced the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile, the Atlas.

Management churn
Hopkins fell seriously ill during 1957, and was eventually replaced by Frank Pace late that year. Meanwhile, John Naish succeeded Joseph McNarney as president of Convair. Henry Crown became the company's largest shareholder, and merged his Material Service Corporation with GD in 1959.

Naish left in May 1961, taking most of Convair's top people with him. GD subsequently reorganized into Eastern Group in New York and Western Group in San Diego, with the later taking over all of the aerospace activities and dropping the Convair brand name from its aircraft in the process.

Frank Pace retired under pressure in 1962 and Roger Lewis, former Secretary of the Army and Pan American Airway's CEO was brought in as the new CEO. The company recovered then fell back into the same struggles. In 1971, the board brought in Dave Lewis (no relation) as Chairman and CEO. At the time he was President of McDonnell Douglas. Dave Lewis served until his retirement in 1985.

Aviation powerhouse
During the early 1960s the company bid on the USAF's TFX (Tactical Fighter, eXperimental) project for a new low-level "penetrator". Robert McNamara, newly installed as the Secretary of Defence, forced a merger of the TFX with US Navy plans for a new long-range "fleet defender" aircraft. In order to bid on a naval version successfully, GD partnered with Grumman, who would built a customized version for aircraft carrier duties. After four rounds of bids and changes, the GD/Grumman team finally won the contract over a Boeing submission.

The F-111 first flew in December 1964. The F-111B flew in May 1965, but the Navy said that it was too heavy for use on aircraft carriers. With an unacceptable Navy version, estimates for 2,400 F-111s, including exports, were sharply reduced, but GD still managed to make a $300-million profit on the project. Grumman went on to build the F-14 Tomcat, an aircraft that used many of the innovations of the F-111, but was designed solely as a carrier-borne fighter.

Reorganization
In May 1965, GD reorganized into 12 operating divisions based on product lines. The board decided to build all future planes in Fort Worth, ending plane production at San Diego (Convair's original plant), but continuing with space and missile development there. In October 1970, Roger Lewis left and David S. Lewis from McDonnell Douglas was named CEO. Lewis required that the company headquarters move to St. Louis, which occurred in February 1971.

F-16 success
In 1972, GD bid on the USAF's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) project. GD and Northrop were awarded prototype contracts. GD, who's F-111 program was winding down, desperately needed a new aircraft contract. They organized their own "Skunk Works" group, the Advanced Concepts Laboratory, and responded with a new aircraft design that was significantly more modern than the Northrop version.

GD's YF-16 first flew in January 1974, and proved to have slightly better performance than the YF-17 in head-to-head testing. It entered production as the F-16 in January 1975 with an initial order of 650 and a total order of 1,388. The F-16 also won contracts worldwide, beating the F-17 in foreign competition as well. F-16 orders eventually totaled more than 4,000, making it the largest and most successful program for GD, and one of the most successful western military projects, since World War II.

Land Systems focus
In 1976, General Dynamics sold the struggling Canadair back to the Canadian government for $38 million. By 1984, General Dynamics had four divisions: Convair in San Diego, General Dynamics-Fort Worth, General Dynamics-Pomona, and General Dynamics-Electronics. In 1985 a further reorganization created the Space Systems Division from the Convair Space division. In 1985, GD also acquired Cessna.

Henry Crown, still GD's largest shareholder, died on 15 August 1990. Following this, the company started to rapidly divest its underperforming divisions. Cessna was re-sold Textron in January 1992, the San Diego missile production to General Motors-Hughes Aerospace in May 1992, the Fort Worth aircraft production to Lockheed in March 1993, and its Space Systems Division to Martin Marietta in 1994. The remaining Convair Aircraft Structure unit was sold to McDonnell Douglas in 1994. The remains of the Convair Division were simply closed in 1996. GD's exit from the aviation world was short-lived, and in 1999 they acquired Gulfstream Aerospace.

Having divested itself of its aviation holdings, GD concentrated on land and sea products. GD purchased Chrysler's defense divisions in 1982, re-naming them General Dynamics Land Systems. In 2003 they purchased General Motors' defence divisions as well. It is now a major supplier of armored vehicles of all types, including the M1 Abrams, LAV 25, Stryker, and a wide variety of vehicles based on these chassis.

Acquisitions

 * 1899 - Electric Boat was established and became General Dynamics in 1952
 * 1946 - Canadair purchased from the Canadian government
 * 1953 - Convair merged with General Dynamics
 * 1959 - Henry Crown acquires company and becomes majority shareholder.
 * 1962-1963 - Convair-produced Mercury-Atlas rockets launches four manned Mercury missions into low Earth orbit, including John Glenn.
 * 1971-1985 David S. Lewis, Jr., was chairman and chief executive officer. During his tenure, General Dynamics’ revenues and earnings quadrupled.
 * 1982 - Formed General Dynamics Combat Systems after the acquisition of Chrysler's combat systems.
 * 1995 - Acquired Bath Iron Works from Prudential Insurance, established in 1890
 * 1996 - Acquired Teledyne Vehicle Systems.
 * 1997 - Acquired Lockheed Martin Defense Systems and Lockheed Martin Armament Systems.
 * 1997 - Acquired Advanced Technology Systems, formerly an operating unit of Lucent Technologies.
 * 1997 - Acquired Computing Devices International, formerly a division of Ceridian Corporation.
 * 1998 - Acquired National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, established in 1905.
 * 1999 - Acquired Gulfstream Aerospace from Forstmann Little, the company was founded in 1958.
 * 1999 - Acquired GTE Government Systems, Communication Systems, Electronic Systems and Worldwide Telecommunication Systems Divisions.
 * 2001 - Acquired Galaxy Aerospace Company from Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI)
 * 2001 - GD Decision Systems formed (and later merged with General Dynamics C4 Systems) after acquisition of Motorola's Integrated Information Systems Group.
 * 2002 - Acquired Advanced Technical Products.
 * 2003 - Acquired GM Defense from General Motors.
 * 2003 - Acquired Steyr Daimler Puch Spezialfahrzeug (SSF) from an Austrian investor group, which bought the company in 1998 from the Steyr-Daimler-Puch-conglomerate. SSF is now part of "General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems" which includes also the Spanish Santa Bárbara Sistemas and the Swiss MOWAG, and has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
 * 2003 - Acquired Veridian and Digital Systems Resources.
 * 2003 - Acquired Datron's Intercontinental Manufacturing Company (IMCO) Unit.
 * 2004 - Acquired Spectrum Astro.
 * 2005 - Acquired FC Business Systems.
 * 2005 - Acquired MAYA Viz Ltd, the primary developer of the US Army's Command Post of the Future software into General Dynamics C4 Systems
 * 2005 - Acquired Tadpole Computer.
 * 2005 - Acquired Itronix
 * 2006 - Acquired Anteon International.
 * 2007 - Acquired Mediaware International.

Divestitures

 * Coal mining
 * Building materials
 * Limestone
 * Concrete
 * 1967 - General Atomics to Gulf Oil
 * 1976 - Canadair sold back to the Canadian government.
 * 1981 - Following expropriation legislation passed by the government of the Province of Quebec, General Dynamics' Canadian subsidiary sold its 54.6% controlling interest in Asbestos Corporation Limited to the Quebec government-owned creation, Société nationale de l'amiante (SNA).
 * 1991 - Data Systems Division outsourced to Computer Sciences Corp.
 * 1992 - Tactical Missiles Division to Hughes Aircraft Company.
 * 1992 - Cessna to Textron.
 * 1993 - Fixed-wing military aircraft to Lockheed.
 * 1993 - Space Systems Division to Martin Marietta.
 * 1994 - Convair's aerostructures unit to McDonnell Douglas, (Convair closed in 1996).

Marine systems

 * American Overseas Marine Corporation
 * Bath Iron Works
 * Electric Boat
 * National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
 * Quincy Shipbuilding Division (closed 1986)

Combat systems

 * General Dynamics Land Systems
 * General Dynamics Robotic Systems
 * Autonomous Navigation System (ANS)
 * M1 Series Abrams Main Battle Tank
 * M1A2 Series Abrams Main Battle Tank
 * Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle
 * Heavy Assault Bridge program
 * Stryker Armored Combat Vehicle
 * Crusader Self-Propelled Howitzer
 * General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products
 * General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems
 * General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems
 * Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch prior to 1998)
 * ASCOD AFV (Ulan)
 * Mowag corporation
 * Santa Bárbara Sistemas
 * Leopardo 2E
 * ASCOD AFV (Pizarro)

Information systems and technology

 * General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems
 * Jobs in GD AIS
 * General Dynamics C4 Systems
 * General Dynamics Information Technology
 * General Dynamics United Kingdom
 * General Dynamics Wireless Systems

Aerospace

 * Gulfstream Aerospace

Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of General Dynamics are: Nicholas Chabraja, James Crown, Lester Crown, William Fricks, Charles Goodman, Jay L. Johnson, George Joulwan, Paul Kaminski, John Keane, Lester Lyles, Carl Mundy, and Robert Walmsley.

Financials
General Dynamics has about $12 billion in sales, primarily military, but also civilian with its Gulfstream Aerospace unit and conventional shipbuilding and repair with its National Steel and Shipbuilding subsidiary.

In 2004 General Dynamics bid for the UK company Alvis Vickers, the leading British manufacturer of armoured vehicles. In March the board of Alvis Vickers voted in favour of the £309m takeover. However at the last minute BAE Systems offered £355m for the company in what was seen as a move to keep General Dynamics out of its "back yard". This deal was finalised in June 2004.

General Dynamics has tried to acquire Newport News Shipbuilding but been blocked by regulators and competitors, as this would make General Dynamics the sole manufacturer of nuclear-powered ships in the United States.

Controlled subsidiaries of the corporation are donors to the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.