BAE Systems to Provide Radio Communications System for General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Design Team

Business Wire, July 27, 2004

CALIFORNIA, Md. -- BAE Systems has been selected by General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) to provide the radio communications system as a key component of the General Dynamics-designed, open architecture core mission systems for the final design of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The Department of Defense announced May 27 that the General Dynamics-led team would develop the final design for its proposed solution for the Navy's newest class of surface ships.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, has developed a unique open-architecture approach for the LCS that will enable a combination of industry-leading technologies and capabilities to be integrated in one system to provide the Navy with near- and long-term benefits.

BAE Systems Electronic Systems will leverage more than 25 years of radio communications suite design, production, integration and testing experience on the Navy's AEGIS program to support this leading-edge program. Electronic Systems will be responsible for the design of the entire communication suite and will draw upon the expertise of the corporation to provide the Navy a cost-effective, open architecture-based communications system.

The radio communications systems work will be performed primarily by BAE Systems Electronic Systems employees located in California, Md.

"We are proud to be part of the General Dynamics team. I'm confident that our world-class surface combatant engineering, production, integration, and testing expertise will make key contributions to their success," said Larry Wise, vice president and general manager, BAE Systems Electronic Systems.

The General Dynamics team proposal features an innovative trimaran hull that enables the ship to reach sustainable speeds of nearly 50 knots and range as far as 10,000 nautical miles with an unmatched interior volume and payload. The ship is designed to allow a crew of fewer than 40 sailors to fully operate, maintain, and defend it. The General Dynamics team design will provide the Navy with the capability to defeat swarm boats, mines, diesel submarines and to perform multiple other missions.

In addition to BAE Systems, the General Dynamics team includes Austal USA, of Mobile, Ala., a subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal Ships,; CAE of Leesburg, Va.; Maritime Applied Physics Corporation, Baltimore, Md.; Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Baltimore, Md.; and three other General Dynamics companies: Armament and Technical Products (Burlington, Vt.), Electric Boat (Groton, Conn.) and General Dynamics Canada (Ottawa, Ontario).

About BAE SYSTEMS

BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development, delivery, and support of advanced defense and aerospace systems in the air, on land, at sea, and in space.

BAE Systems Technology Solutions provides a full-spectrum of systems engineering, technical services, and ordnance systems to its customers in disciplines essential for successful systems development, operating, and maintenance.

BAE Systems Electronic Systems is headquartered in California, Maryland, with field offices in Chesapeake, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, and San Diego, California. Two of its major operations are registered to the requirements of international quality standard ISO 9001.