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General Dynamics Corporation

The headquarters of General Dynamics in February 2021
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: GD S&P 100 component S&P 500 component
Industry	Aerospace Defense Shipbuilding
Founded	1896; 129 years ago (1896) as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company
Founder	John Philip Holland
Headquarters	Reston, Virginia , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Phebe Novakovic (chairman and CEO)
Products	Aircraft flight control system Auxiliary ships Business jets Combat vehicles Communications systems IT systems Jones Act ships Munitions Nuclear-powered submarines Stealth Ship Tanks Vision Systems Watercraft Weapon systems
Services	Artificial intelligence Charter Services Command and control Cybersecurity Fixed-base operator (FBO) Intelligence services IT IT service management Maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) Naval design Shipbuilding Ship repair Software development
Revenue	US$42.3 billion (2023)
Operating income	US$4.25 billion (2023)
Net income	US$3.32 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$54.8 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$21.3 billion (2023)
Number of employees	111,600 (2023)
Divisions	Aerospace Marine Systems Combat Systems Technologies
Subsidiaries	Bath Iron Works Electric Boat General Dynamics Information Technology General Dynamics Land Systems General Dynamics Mission Systems General Dynamics UK Gulfstream Jet Aviation MOWAG NASSCO

General Dynamics Corporation (often called GD) is a big American company. It makes things for airplanes, ships, and defense. Its main office is in Reston, Virginia. In 2020, it was one of the top five defense companies in the world. It is also a Fortune 100 company, which means it's one of the 100 largest companies in the United States.

General Dynamics was created in 1954. This happened when a submarine maker called Electric Boat joined with an airplane maker named Canadair. Today, the company has ten smaller companies working in 45 countries. They make many different products. These include Gulfstream business jets and nuclear-powered submarines. They also build guided-missile destroyers, M1 Abrams tanks, and Stryker armored vehicles.

In 2022, General Dynamics sold products worth $39.4 billion around the world. They had about 106,500 full-time employees. The person in charge, who is both the chairman and CEO, is Phebe Novakovic.

How General Dynamics Started

Electric Boat's Early Days

General Dynamics' story began with John Philip Holland's Holland Torpedo Boat Company. In 1899, a businessman named Isaac Rice bought Holland's company. He changed its name to Electric Boat Company. This company was important because it built the first modern submarines for the U.S. Navy. The Navy bought these submarines in 1900.

In 1906, Electric Boat hired the Fore River Shipyard to help build submarines. This shipyard was in Quincy, Massachusetts. Later, from 1917 to 1924, the company was called Submarine Boat Corporation. In 1933, Electric Boat bought a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. They started building submarines there. The first submarine built in Groton for the U.S. Navy was USS Cuttlefish in 1934.

After World War II, Electric Boat had a lot of money but not much work. During the war, they made 80 submarines for the Navy. But their workforce shrank a lot by 1946. The company's president, John Jay Hopkins, looked for other companies to buy. He wanted to make the company more diverse.

Buying Canadair

Canadair was an airplane company owned by the Canadian government. It was also struggling after the war. Hopkins bought Canadair in 1946 for $10 million. The factory itself was worth more than $22 million. But Canadair's production was messy. Hopkins hired H. Oliver West to fix things and make Canadair profitable again. Soon, Canadair started delivering its new Canadair North Star planes. They delivered them to airlines even earlier than planned.

When the Cold War started, defense spending went up. Canadair won many contracts from the Canadian military. It became a big aerospace company. They built planes like the Canadair CT-133 Silver Star trainer and the Canadair Argus transport plane. They also made the Canadair F-86 Sabre. Between 1950 and 1958, they built 1,815 Sabres. Canadair also made 200 CF-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter jets.

In 1976, General Dynamics sold Canadair back to the Canadian government. Later, in 1986, Bombardier Inc. bought Canadair.

General Dynamics is Born

Making airplanes became very important at Canadair. John Jay Hopkins thought the name "Electric Boat" no longer fit the company. So, on April 24, 1952, Electric Boat changed its name to General Dynamics.

In March 1953, General Dynamics bought Convair. Convair was another big company that made aircraft. This sale was approved by the government. They agreed that GD would keep operating from Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. This factory was used to build B-24 Liberator bombers during the war.

Convair worked as its own division within General Dynamics. Over the next ten years, Convair developed many important aircraft. These included the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor and the B-58 Hustler bomber. They also made the Convair 880 and 990 airliners. Convair also created the Atlas missile, which was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile for the U.S.

Aviation in the 1960s

In the early 1960s, General Dynamics competed for a new fighter jet project. This project was called the United States Air Force's Tactical Fighter, Experimental (TFX). The Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, decided to combine this project with the U.S. Navy's plans for a new long-range aircraft. General Dynamics didn't have much experience designing naval aircraft. So, they teamed up with Grumman to create a version for aircraft carriers. After several tries, the GD/Grumman team won the contract.

The land-based F-111 first flew in December 1964. The carrier-capable F-111B flew in May 1965. However, the F-111B was too heavy and not powerful enough for the Navy. So, the Navy did not accept it. Even with fewer planes built, General Dynamics still made a good profit from the F-111 project. Grumman later used ideas from the F-111 to create the F-14 Tomcat, a famous carrier-based fighter.

Company Changes

In May 1965, General Dynamics changed how it was organized. It created 12 different divisions based on what they made. The company decided that all future planes would be built in Fort Worth. This meant they stopped making planes at Convair's original plant in San Diego. However, space and missile development continued there. In October 1970, Dave Lewis became the new CEO. He moved the company's main office to St. Louis, Missouri, in February 1971.

The F-16's Big Success

In 1972, General Dynamics competed for the USAF's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) project. GD and Northrop were chosen to build prototype planes. GD's F-111 program was ending, and they needed a new aircraft contract. They created a special lab, like Lockheed's Skunk Works, to design a new plane with advanced technology. They won the competition in 1972. This new plane became the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

GD's YF-16 first flew in January 1974. It performed slightly better than the YF-17 in tests. The F-16 started production in January 1975. The first order was for 650 planes, and later, the total order was for 1,388. The F-16 also won contracts from many countries around the world. General Dynamics built a factory in Fort Worth, Texas, just for F-16 production. In the end, more than 4,600 F-16s were ordered. This made it the company's biggest and most successful project ever.

Focus on Land and Sea Vehicles

In 1976, General Dynamics sold Canadair back to the Canadian government. By 1984, General Dynamics had four main divisions. Over the next few years, the company sold off many of its aviation parts. For example, Cessna was sold in 1992, and the Fort Worth aircraft production (where F-16s were made) was sold to Lockheed in 1993. General Dynamics left the aviation world for a short time. But in 1999, they bought Gulfstream Aerospace, bringing them back into aircraft.

In 1995, General Dynamics bought the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine. This helped them build U.S. Navy surface ships, like guided-missile destroyers. In 1998, they bought NASSCO, which is the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company. This shipyard in San Diego builds U.S. Navy support ships and commercial ships.

After selling its aviation businesses, General Dynamics focused on land and sea products. In 1982, GD bought Chrysler's defense divisions. They renamed them General Dynamics Land Systems. In 2003, they also bought the defense divisions of General Motors. Now, General Dynamics is a major maker of armored vehicles. These include the M1 Abrams, LAV 25, and Stryker vehicles. In 2011, they also bought Force Protection, Inc..

General Dynamics UK

In 1997, General Dynamics bought Computing Devices Ltd in Hastings, England. This company made systems for planes like the Panavia Tornado. In 2001, Computing Devices Canada (CDC) won a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence. They were to supply communication systems for the Bowman program. This work was done at their new UK office in Oakdale, Wales. The company was then renamed General Dynamics UK Limited. As of 2020, it has two main parts. These are General Dynamics Land Systems - UK and General Dynamics Mission Systems - UK. They work from eight locations in the United Kingdom. They are currently building the General Dynamics Ajax armored vehicles and the Foxhound patrol vehicle for the UK Ministry of Defence.

Recent Company News

In 1999, the company acquired Gulfstream Aerospace. Here, a Gulfstream G650 departs Bristol Airport, England in 2014.

In 2018, General Dynamics bought a big information technology company called CSRA. They combined it with their own IT division, GDIT.

In September 2018, the U.S. Navy gave contracts for 10 new Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works was one of the companies chosen to build them.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis joined the company's board of directors again in August 2019. He had been on the board before.

In September 2020, General Dynamics announced a partnership to work on counter-drone technology. This means they will help detect and stop drones that are not supposed to be there.

In December 2020, General Dynamics announced they would pay a regular quarterly dividend of $1.10. This was paid on February 5, 2021.

On December 26, 2020, General Dynamics Land Systems was awarded a $4.6 billion contract by the U.S. Army. This contract is for M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tanks.

General Dynamics' supply of weapons to Israel during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war has led to protests at some of its facilities.

How General Dynamics Grew (Acquisitions)

General Dynamics has grown a lot by buying other companies over the years. These purchases helped them expand into different areas like aerospace, marine systems, combat systems, and technology.

What General Dynamics Makes

Business Units

As of 2021, General Dynamics has ten separate businesses. These are grouped into four main areas:

Aerospace

Gulfstream: Makes business jets.
Jet Aviation: Offers services for private jets.

Marine Systems

Electric Boat: Builds submarines.
Bath Iron Works: Builds surface ships for the Navy.
NASSCO: Builds auxiliary and support ships.

Combat Systems

General Dynamics Land Systems: Makes armored vehicles.
General Dynamics European Land Systems: Makes armored vehicles in Europe.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems: Makes weapons and ammunition.

Technologies

GDIT: Provides information technology services.
General Dynamics Mission Systems: Develops communication and information systems.

Aircraft Systems

General Dynamics has made many famous aircraft, including:

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark: A multi-role combat aircraft.
- General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B
- General Dynamics F-111C
- General Dynamics F-111K
- General Dynamics–Grumman EF-111A Raven
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon: A very successful fighter jet.
- General Dynamics F-16 VISTA
- General Dynamics F-16XL
- General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon variants
Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F Canberra: A reconnaissance aircraft.

Marine Systems

The company is a big name in shipbuilding:

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

Missile Systems

General Dynamics has developed many important missiles:

RIM-24 Tartar
FIM-43 Redeye
MIM-46 Mauler
RIM-66 Standard
AGM-78 Standard ARM
FIM-92 Stinger
AIM-97 Seekbat
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
AGM-129 ACM
Tomahawk (missile)
BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile
SM-65 Atlas (CGM/HGM-16)

Combat Systems

The M1 Abrams tank is a key product.

The Stryker is an armored combat vehicle.

The GAU-17 Minigun.

General Dynamics makes many vehicles and weapons for land combat:

Former General Dynamics Pomona Division
- Phalanx CIWS: A rapid-fire gun system for ships.
General Dynamics Land Systems
- General Dynamics Robotic Systems
  - Autonomous Navigation System
  - Mobile Detection and Assessment Response System
  - Unmanned Surface Vehicle
- Expeditionary tank
- M1 Abrams series main battle tank
- Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle
- Heavy Assault Bridge program
- LAV series
- Stryker Armored Combat Vehicle
- XM2001 Crusader self-propelled howitzer
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products
- GAU-17 (Minigun)
- GAU-19
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS)
- GDELS-Steyr
  - ASCOD AFV (Ulan)
  - Pandur II
- GDELS-Mowag
  - Mowag Duro
  - Mowag Eagle
  - Mowag Piranha
- GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas
  - Leopard 2E
  - ASCOD AFV (Pizarro)
General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited
- Scout SV

Information Systems and Technology

This part of the company makes up about 34% of its total money earned. They work on computer systems and technology solutions.

Launch Vehicles

General Dynamics has also been involved in rockets:

Atlas (rocket family)
- Atlas-Centaur
- Atlas E/F
- Atlas G
- Atlas H
- Atlas SLV-3
- Atlas-Agena
NEXUS (rocket) space launch vehicle concept (was never built)

Company Leadership

The current chairman and chief executive officer of General Dynamics is Phebe N. Novakovic.

Company Facts and Figures

In 2017, General Dynamics had $30.9 billion in sales. Most of this came from military products. But they also earn money from their Gulfstream Aerospace unit (private jets) and their shipbuilding and repair work with National Steel and Shipbuilding.

For the year 2022, General Dynamics reported making $3.309 billion in profit. Their total sales for the year were $39.407 billion. This was a small increase from the year before.

General Dynamics cares about the environment. In 2021, they reported 696,118 metric tons of carbon emissions. They plan to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2034. They also aim to become carbon neutral before 2060.

The company also focuses on its employees. In 2021, 21% of their U.S. workforce were veterans. Also, 23% were female, and 27% were people of color. General Dynamics has won awards for being a top employer for veterans. About 20% of the company's employees are part of labor unions.