General Dynamics is the world’s fifth-largest arms company, according to SIPRI. Headquartered in the defence hub of Reston, Virginia, General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defence company that produces a range of products including armaments, combat vehicles, missiles and bombs, nuclear-powered submarines and communications and information systems.
General Dynamics was founded in 1952 primarily to provide tanks, rockets, missiles, submarines, warships, fighter jets and electronics to the US military. The company is divided into four main businesses: aerospace, combat systems, marine systems and technologies. In 2024 it made arms revenues of US$ 33.63 billion, with arms sales accounting for over 70% of the company’s total revenues. It had more than 100,000 full-time employees in 2021, about 84% of which were in the US. General Dynamics has a presence in more than 70 countries globally. Its primary customer is the American government.
Arms and munitions
Under its Ordnance and Tactical Systems business, General Dynamics produces a range of arms and munitions for fighter craft and naval vessels. It produces the Gatling gun systems for the Boeing F-15E, Lockheed Martin F-16E and Boeing F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. It also produces the M61A1/M61A2 Gatling gun which is used on the three jets above and also the Beriev A50 and KAI KF-21. It produces the Gatling gun for the Raytheon Phalanx close weapon system, a naval defence system, and guns and guided missile detectors for the US Naval Aegis Weapon System, produced by Lockheed Martin and the Dutch navy’s Goalkeeper system, produced by Thales. General Dynamics claims it is also the “leading supplier of gun barrels to the US Department of Defense,” used extensively on the US Air Force’s fleet.
Missiles
GD produces missile warheads and payloads as well as rocket systems and components. The company is the “sole producer to the U.S. Military for Hydra-70 Rocket Systems.” The US Army uses these extensively; it fired 100,000 of them in one year in training alone, Defense Express reports. Via the US, Ukraine has acquired Hydra-70 Rocket Systems as well. GD is heavily engaged in warhead development, stating that its “next generation warheads combine…controlled fragmentation, incendiary materials, and hardened case designs increasing the effectiveness of these systems.” It produces the Hellfire R9E advanced blast fragmentation warhead, “expanding the capability of Lockheed Martin’s Hellfire Missile.” It also produces the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), Hellfire Romeo Warhead and Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II).
Land vehicles
Under its Ordnance and Tactical Systems business, General Dynamics produces a range of combat vehicles.
Among its land vehicle offerings are the Abrams tanks, Stryker fighting vehicles, US Marine Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV), ASCOD fighting vehicles such as the Spanish PIZARRO and British AJAX battle tanks (see below); an investigation into the latter was underway in 2025 due to reported safety faults. GD also produces LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicles, and Flyer-60 lightweight tactical vehicles. Of its Abrams tank, GD states that it “remains the top tank choice today for the U.S. Army, U.S. National Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps. It is also popular with several international armies, including Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Iraq.” In August 2016, the US Department of Defense revealed that 153 more of these tanks were to be sold to Saudi Arabia, of which 133 were to be “additional”, the others being “battle damage replacements for their existing fleet”. General Dynamics’ M1A1 tank was built under licence in Egypt for the army in 2011, and the country’s military also uses M60A3 tanks supplied to Egypt in numerous deals since 1980.
GD’s European Land Systems business produces the PIRANHA and PANDUR wheeled armoured vehicles and various artillery systems and mobile bridge systems. General Dynamics also produces unmanned vehicles. These include the “robotic mule” Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) and the Tracked Robot 10-ton (TRX), “designed to shoot down drone swarms”, according to GD. GD also produces other vehicles for peace-keeping missions, mine clearance and other non-military specific applications.
Marine
GD states that its Marine Systems division is the “leading designer and builder of nuclear-powered submarines and a leader in surface combatant and auxiliary ship design and construction for the U.S. Navy.”
GD Bath Iron Works produces the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, “one of the longest-running surface combatant programs in U.S. Navy history,” the Zumwalt class destroyer, “the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world”, and the Flight III configuration destroyers, among other ships. General Dynamics Electric Boat produces submarines, notably the Virginia-class attack submarines and Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. General Dynamics NASCCO specialises in auxiliary and support ships for the American navy and oil tankers and dry cargo carriers for commercial markets.
IT and Mission systems
GD’s IT and Mission Systems division serves a range of military, intelligence and federal civilian customers with products and services including: IT solutions and mission-support services; mobile communication, computers, command-and-control and cyber (C5) mission systems; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions.
Controversies
Israel and the Palestinian Territories
As a major US arms company, General Dynamics equipment and services are regularly used by the Israeli military. General Dynamics provides weapon systems, components, and maintenance services to Israel’s fleet of F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets. For example, in 2024 a report by World Beyond War noted that F-35 maintenance parts and bombs were shipped from General Dynamics facilities in Canada to Israel via the US.
The Israeli military also uses various of GD’s missiles and shells, notably the 155mm calibre artillery shells, which have been found in Gaza. Other GD bombs identified as being used by Israel include the BLU-113 5,000–pound “bunker buster” bombs, BLU-109 “hardened penetration” bombs, and MK- 82 and 84 “general-purpose” bombs, according to American Friends Service Committee. In 2015, the UN Commission of Inquiry that investigated the 2014 attack on Gaza warned that the use of General Dynamics MK-84 bombs in highly populated areas would likely violate the laws of war; Israel has received thousands from the US since October 2023.
In February 2025, the US State Department approved a sale of munitions and related equipment worth US$ 2.05 billion to Israel where General Dynamics was the lead contractor. GD Land Systems also produces a bespoke armoured land vehicle for the IDF, the Namer.
Given its support to the Israeli military, General Dynamics is a frequent target of protest actions. In the UK, students have protested GD’s educational partnerships with schools. Protestors have also attempted to “evict” GD from its facility in Hastings. Protests in Canada have centred on GD’s facility in Quebec and GD’s participation in conferences. Protestors in the US have targeted GD’s Texas facility.
Border control
Human rights organisations and media have accused companies including General Dynamics of financially profiting from the US’ policy of separating and detaining migrant families attempting to cross the US border. The Transnational Institute noted that GD had provided surveillance infrastructure to the US’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies, and that the company was a significant political donor to both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates in 2020.
General Dynamics’ work with the US Department for Homeland Security has been criticised by migrants rights organisation, who argue that the building of the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology System (HART) database will vastly expand the agency’s ability to surveil migrants and assist in deportation targeting.
The botched Ajax armoured vehicle programme
General Dynamics Land Systems UK won a competition to build a new range of armoured reconnaissance vehicles for the British Army in 2010. The vehicles, named Ajax, were to be based on a vehicle produced by GD in Spain, and were initially supposed to enter service in 2017. The programme, so far costing £6.3 billion, has been plagued with problems, yet has stumbled on, in spite of lengthy delays and escalating costs.
In July 2021, as an initial batch of Ajax vehicles were being tested, it emerged that dozens of soldiers were becoming ill from using them, including with hearing problems and vomiting, as a result of severe noise and vibrations in many of the hulls. Trials were halted, and cancellation was considered, but the programme was allowed to continue.
A new timetable was agreed in 2023, and deliveries began in 2025, with the army announcing the Ajax had achieved initial operating capability in November that year – eight years late. Yet, just a month later, reports emerged that in spite of supposed fixes to the earlier problems by GD, many soldiers were still getting ill from using them, with the same vibration problems causing numbness in hands and feet, and “shaking to the point of vomiting” in some of those testing the Ajax.
At the time of writing, the future of the Ajax remains in doubt.
Political influence
General Dynamics is a significant political lobbyist. In 2024, the company spent US$ 12.2 million in lobbying the US government, and made contributions to political candidates worth US$ 3.4 million that year.
