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NASSCO Starts Construction On First T-AKE Ship

SAN DIEGO, CA -- National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has begun construction on the first ship in the T-AKE program, a new class of combat logistics force ships designated the Lewis and Clark class.

“The T-AKE is the first new combat logistics force ship designed for the Navy in almost 20 years,” said Richard Vortmann, president of NASSCO. “It is the first to combine lower-cost commercial ship design features with high-performance, proven international marine technologies such as integrated electric-drive propulsion.”

The T-AKE is a dry cargo/ammunition ship that will be operated by the Military Sealift Command. An underway replenishment ship, the T-AKE will support the Navy’s Sea Power 21 vision of seabasing, providing logistic lift from sources of supply either in port or at sea and transferring cargo – ammunition, food, fuel, repair parts, and expendable supplies and material – to station ships and other naval forces at sea. With convertible cargo holds and cargo transfer systems capable of handling food and stores or ammunition, the T-AKE will replace two classes of aging cargo ships that are nearing the end of their service lives: T-AE ammunition ships and T-AFS combat stores ships.

To date, NASSCO has been awarded contracts with a total value of $1.3 billion to build four Lewis and Clark-class ships. NASSCO’s T-AKE contract has options exercisable by the Navy for eight additional ships over the next five years for a potential contract value of approximately $3.7 billion. If all options are exercised, the program will give NASSCO a firm backlog through 2010 and provide jobs for 1500-1800 production employees during that period.

The T-AKEs will be 210 meters (689 feet) in length and 32.2 meters (105.6 feet) in beam, with a design draft of 9.12 meters (29.9 feet). The ships will carry almost 7,000 metric tons of dry cargo and ammunition and 23,500 barrels of marine diesel fuel. The T-AKEs have been designed to maximize cargo-handling efficiency and minimize the costs of operation and maintenance over their expected 40-year life.

NASSCO is a leading builder of auxiliary and support ships for the Navy. From 1993 to 2002, NASSCO built or converted eleven ships for the Strategic Sealift program. Four AOE fast combat support ships were delivered in the mid-1990s. All of these ships played a significant role in the success of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 64,600 people worldwide and estimates 2003 revenues of $15.5 billion. The company has leading market positions in mission-critical information systems and technologies, land and amphibious combat systems, shipbuilding and marine systems, and business aviation.

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Any "forward-looking statements" contained in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

General Dynamics Corporation (ticker: GD, exchange: NYSE)
News Release - Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Press Contact: (619) 544-7708