United Defense Norfolk, Virginia, Shipyard to Purchase Dry Dock

Contact:
Doug Coffey, Media
United Defense
doug.coffey@udlp.com
(703) 312-6121

Jackie Kreisler, Media
United States Marine Repair
kreislerj@swmarine.com
(619) 557-4289

NORFOLK, VA, May 14, 2003 - United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE:UDI) announced today an agreement between NORSHIPCO, its Norfolk, Va., shipyard, and Metro Machine Corp. to purchase Metro's 14,000-ton dry dock known as "Old Dominion." The dock, expected to be operational by the end of May, will be relocated to NORSHIPCO and placed in an area previously occupied by a similar size dock, which was retired two years ago. The agreement provides additional opportunities for the exchange of work and dry dock utilization.

The acquisition of the dock positions NORSHIPCO as a stronger competitor in the U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command (MSC), and commercial ship repair markets. The added dry dock capacity affords NORSHIPCO the opportunity to pursue additional areas of work, which could lead to more level-loading of the yard's skilled workforce. NORSHIPCO's workers specialize in the repair and modernization of Naval vessels and various cruise and commercial cargo fleets. The addition of "Old Dominion" to NORSHIPCO's existing dry docking capabilities, including the 950-ft. TITAN dock, with displacement capacity of 52,000 tons, also allows the company to service nearly all of the U.S. Navy's non-nuclear ships and a significant number of the world's commercially operated vessels.

NORSHIPCO is a member of the United States Marine Repair (USMR) family of shipyards, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Defense. In addition to its headquarters in Norfolk, Va., USMR facilities are located in San Diego, San Pedro and San Francisco, Calif.; Ingleside, Texas; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Mayport, Fla.

About United Defense
United Defense designs, develops and produces combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and precision munitions used by the U.S. Department of Defense and allies worldwide and is America's largest non-nuclear ship repair, modernization conversion and overhaul company. To learn more about United Defense Industries, Inc., visit http://www.uniteddefense.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Information in this release may involve guidance, expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to United Defense Industries, Inc., as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 as well as its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, and in our other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of the factors and risks associated with our business.