Exhibit 99.1

3190 Fairview Park Drive	News
Falls Church, VA 22042-4523
www.generaldynamics.com
	April 21, 2004
	Contact: Rob Doolittle
	Tel 703 876 3199
	Fax 703 876 3186
	rdoolitt@generaldynamics.com

General Dynamics Posts Strong First Quarter

• EPS up 21 percent

• Net earnings increase 22 percent

• Cash flow exceeds net earnings

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) today reported 2004 first quarter revenues of $4.8 billion, as compared with 2003 first quarter revenues of $3.4 billion. Net earnings in the 2004 first quarter were $269 million, or $1.34 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared with 2003 first quarter net earnings of $221 million, or $1.11 per share fully diluted. Net cash provided by operating activities was $329 million for the quarter. Free cash flow from operations, defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, was $276 million.

Funded backlog at the end of the first quarter was $27 billion, and total backlog was $41.6 billion, compared with $23.9 billion and $30.5 billion, respectively, at the end of the first quarter of 2003. Further, funded backlog increased nearly seven percent, or $1.8 billion, over fourth quarter 2003.

“This is a very strong start to 2004,” said Nicholas D. Chabraja, General Dynamics chairman and CEO. “The quarter is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of our focus on program performance. Our business aviation and marine groups both improved margin performance over the year-ago period and quarter-over-quarter. In addition, Information Systems and Technology and Combat Systems provided healthy margins on materially increased volume, evidencing the successful integration of the GM Defense and Veridian acquisitions,” Chabraja said.

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“The increase in funded backlog over year-end was largely attributable to a $580 million U.S. Navy contract to build the fifth and sixth T-AKE dry-cargo ships; the order for Stryker vehicles for the fourth U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team; and several orders in the Information Systems and Technology group related to onboard computing systems, intelligence systems support and network infrastructure modernization around the world,” Chabraja said. “At Gulfstream, order activity was sufficient to keep funded backlog relatively constant.”

“On the strength of this quarter’s performance, we are raising our guidance for 2004 diluted earnings per share to the range of $5.70 to $5.75,” Chabraja concluded.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 68,400 people worldwide and had 2003 revenue of $16.6 billion. The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation.

Certain statements made in this press release, including any statements as to future results of operations and financial projections, may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Additional information regarding these factors is contained in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Forms 10-Q.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made. The company does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release.

WEBCAST INFORMATION: General Dynamics will webcast its first quarter security analyst conference call, scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 21, 2004. Those accessing the webcast will be able to listen to management’s discussion of the first quarter, as well as the question and answer session with security analysts.

The webcast will be a listen-only audio broadcast, available at www.generaldynamics.com. A Real Audio player or Windows Media™ player is required to access the webcast; information about downloading those players is available on the company’s website. An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available by 2 p.m. on April 21 and will continue for 12 months.

To hear a recording of the conference call by telephone, please call 719-457-0820; passcode 440094. It will be available from 2 p.m. on April 21 until midnight on May 5, 2004.

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS (UNAUDITED)
DOLLARS IN MILLIONS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS

	First Quarter						Variance
	2004			2003			$			%
NET SALES	$	4,760		$	3,421		$	1,339			39.1	%
OPERATING COSTS AND EXPENSES		4,318			3,103			(1,215	)
OPERATING EARNINGS		442			318			124			39.0	%
Interest, Net		(39	)		(11	)		(28	)
Other Income, Net		—			4			(4	)
EARNINGS BEFORE INCOME TAXES		403			311			92			29.6	%
Provision for Income Taxes		134			90			(44	)
NET EARNINGS	$	269		$	221		$	48			21.7	%
EARNINGS PER SHARE — BASIC	$	1.36		$	1.11		$	0.25			22.5	%
BASIC WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING (IN MILLIONS)		198.4			198.9
EARNINGS PER SHARE — DILUTED	$	1.34		$	1.11		$	0.23			20.7	%
DILUTED WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING (IN MILLIONS)		200.3			199.7

Exhibit A
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NET SALES AND OPERATING EARNINGS BY SEGMENT (UNAUDITED)
DOLLARS IN MILLIONS

	First Quarter						Variance
	2004			2003			$			%
NET SALES:
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY	$	1,716		$	995		$	721			72.5	%
COMBAT SYSTEMS		1,111			815			296			36.3	%
MARINE SYSTEMS		1,280			976			304			31.1	%
AEROSPACE		606			594			12			2.0	%
RESOURCES		47			41			6			14.6	%
TOTAL	$	4,760		$	3,421		$	1,339			39.1	%
OPERATING EARNINGS:
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY	$	170		$	111		$	59			53.2	%
COMBAT SYSTEMS		117			92			25			27.2	%
MARINE SYSTEMS		98			65			33			50.8	%
AEROSPACE		66			40			26			65.0	%
RESOURCES		(9	)		10			(19	)		(190.0	)%
TOTAL	$	442		$	318		$	124			39.0	%
OPERATING MARGINS:
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY		9.9	%		11.2	%
COMBAT SYSTEMS		10.5	%		11.3	%
MARINE SYSTEMS		7.7	%		6.7	%
AEROSPACE		10.9	%		6.7	%
RESOURCES		(19.1	)%		24.4	%
TOTAL		9.3	%		9.3	%

Exhibit B
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PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
DOLLARS IN MILLIONS EXCEPT PER SHARE AND EMPLOYEE AMOUNTS

	First Quarter			First Quarter
	2004			2003
Cash	$	869		$	748
Short-term Debt	$	561		$	2,394
Long-term Debt		3,297			723
Total Debt	$	3,858		$	3,117
Net Debt	$	2,989		$	2,369
Shareholders’ Equity	$	6,217		$	5,108
Debt-to-Equity		62.1	%		61.0	%
Debt-to-Capital		38.3	%		37.9	%
Book Value per Share	$	31.26		$	25.86
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities	$	329		$	201
Capital Expenditures		(53	)		(31	)
Free Cash Flow From Operations (A)	$	276		$	170
Total Taxes Paid	$	11		$	3
Depreciation and Depletion	$	54		$	47
Other Intangible Assets Amortization		23			10
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	$	77		$	57
Company Sponsored R&D (B)	$	94		$	68
Employment		68,400			56,800
Sales Per Employee	$	282,300		$	262,800
Shares Outstanding		198,895,570			197,525,353
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding -
Basic		198,439,517			198,877,963
Diluted		200,303,182			199,717,559

(A)

The company’s management believes free cash flow from operations is a useful measure for investors, because it portrays the company’s ability to generate cash from its core businesses for such purposes as repaying maturing debt, funding business acquisitions and paying dividends. The most directly comparable GAAP measure to free cash flow from operations is net cash provided by operating activities.

(B)

Includes independent research and development and bid and proposal costs and Gulfstream product development costs.

Exhibit C
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BACKLOG (UNAUDITED)
DOLLARS IN MILLIONS

	First Quarter 2004
					Total		IDIQ		Total Estimated
	Funded		Unfunded		Backlog		Contract Value (A)		Contract Value
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND       TECHNOLOGY	$	6,480	$	1,445	$	7,925	$	5,934	$	13,859
COMBAT SYSTEMS		6,320		2,370		8,690		183		8,873
MARINE SYSTEMS		9,968		8,357		18,325		—		18,325
AEROSPACE		4,094		2,386		6,480		—		6,480
RESOURCES		145		57		202		—		202
TOTAL	$	27,007	$	14,615	$	41,622	$	6,117	$	47,739

	Fourth Quarter 2003
					Total		IDIQ		Total Estimated
	Funded		Unfunded		Backlog		Contract Value (A)		Contract Value
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND       TECHNOLOGY	$	6,164	$	1,529	$	7,693	$	6,517	$	14,210
COMBAT SYSTEMS		6,029		2,447		8,476		162		8,638
MARINE SYSTEMS		8,775		9,388		18,163		—		18,163
AEROSPACE		4,127		2,397		6,524		—		6,524
RESOURCES		163		57		220		—		220
TOTAL	$	25,258	$	15,818	$	41,076	$	6,679	$	47,755

(A) IDIQ contract value represents management’s estimate of the future contract value under existing indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts. Because the value in these arrangements is subject to the customer’s future exercise of an indeterminate quantity of delivery orders, the company recognizes these contracts in backlog only when they are funded.

AEROSPACE UNIT DELIVERIES (UNAUDITED)

	First Quarter
	2004		2003
GREEN:
LARGE AIRCRAFT		13		11
MID-SIZE AIRCRAFT		4		4
TOTAL		17		15
COMPLETIONS:
LARGE AIRCRAFT		7		14
MID-SIZE AIRCRAFT		5		3
TOTAL		12		17
PRE-OWNED:		3		4

Exhibit D

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