April 22, 2009

The Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development in Camden awarded today an industry jobs creation incentive of $21,600 to General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products to help equip a new training center to support a quality work force.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been awarded a contract worth over $150 million by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to qualify and produce reactive armor tile sets for the Stryker Family of Vehicles, and a contract valued at approximately $35 million by the U.S. Army for the Load, Assemble and Pack of the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). This will require, over the next two years, the hiring of a projected 55 new employees.

The new jobs are scheduled to start in January 2010. The contract is to qualify and produce reactive armor tile sets for the Stryker family of vehicles.

In support of the contract, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission awarded General Dynamics a grant to offset the costs of buying production-related equipment. The grant gave the company an opportunity to streamline production efforts, as well as create local jobs.

Deliveries are expected to begin in March 2010. General Dynamics Land Systems is the original equipment manufacturer of the Stryker vehicle. All three companies are units of General Dynamics.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products' facility in Camden produces warheads and performs rocket-motor assembly and complete rocket integration.

The 1,300-acre facility has more than 120 buildings and is involved in a number of U.S. military weapon systems programs, including the Hydra-70 2.75-inch rocket, Hellfire and Javelin missiles and the Modular Artillery Charge System.

The General Dynamics reactive armor system consists of tiles that fasten to the exterior of Stryker vehicles, allowing the vehicles to better withstand hits from a variety of anti-armor munitions.

"Our reactive armor technology is light-weight and provides an increased level of equipment and troop protection against shape-charged threats, including rocket-propelled grenades or RPGs," said Russ Klein, vice president and general manager of weapon systems for General Dynamics Armament & Technical Products. "We are proud to work with our General Dynamics' teammates to provide potentially life-saving technologies to U.S. servicemen and women."

Program management will take place in General Dynamics' Burlington Technology Center in Vermont. As a strategic partner, RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd., Ordnance Systems Division, will share the production workload in Haifa, Israel.

General Dynamics Armament & Technical Products is located in Charlotte, N.C.

The company designs, develops and produces high-performance weapon and armament systems, defensive armor, countermeasure systems and aerospace composite solutions, as well as off-road axle and suspension systems. It is also a leading U.S. producer of biological and chemical detection systems.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs about 92,900 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.