General Dynamics

History

General Dynamics emerged from the union of two powerful defense contractors: Electric Boat and Consolidated Vultee aircraft. Electric Boat traced its origins to the last years of the 19th century, coming [Page 576]to prominence through the company’s development of submersibles. Electric Boat grew and prospered on that basis through the early decades of the 20th century, producing submarines for the U.S. Navy through World War II. Consolidated Vultee (also known as Convair) emerged from the union of two influential aircraft producers in 1943. Consolidated Aircraft had produced a number of influential aircraft, including the B-24 Liberator of World War II fame, while Vultee produces trainers for the U.S. Air Force, among other designs.

After the merger, General Dynamics continued to expand its portfolio, producing submarines and aircraft that played a crucial role in the Cold War, including the B-36 Peacemaker bomber, the F-102 and F-106 interceptors, the Atlas missile, and the USS Nautilus, the navy’s first nuclear submarine.

One of General Dynamics’ controversial products, however, was the F-111. The F-111 arose out of the air force’s desire for a fast low-level tactical bomber and the navy’s desire for a supersonic high-altitude long-range patrol aircraft in the late 1950s. In February 1961, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered the two services to create a single set of requirements to fill the two disparate roles and solicit bids for a single design to fill the need—the TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental). By January 1962, the two main contenders were Boeing and General Dynamics. The Boeing design was innovative and their bid lower, but after several delays, revisions to the requirements, and interservice disagreements, McNamara overruled the Pentagon and awarded the contract to General Dynamics. Citing concerns about the usefulness of the final design to carrier aviation, the navy backed away and turned to Grumman, a move that eventually produced the F-14. General Dynamics’ decision to locate their plant manufacturing the F-111 in Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson’s home state of Texas also allowed Johnson to claim credit for the jobs thereby created. Ultimately, the F-11 proved a versatile and useful airframe, serving in a variety of roles for the air force throughout the last decades of the Cold War.

Following the mixed success of the F-111, General Dynamics’ next major aerial success was the F-16 Fighting Falcon. General Dynamics won a 1972 competition for a new lightweight fighter, and subsequently it put the F-16 into production in 1975. Eventually, more than 4,000 F-16s would be produced, making it one of the most successful aircraft of the post–World War II era. In recent years, General Dynamics has broadened its portfolio to include landing systems and Gulfstream commercial aircraft.

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