Carlyle Group Sells 4.5 Million United Defense Shares

Contact:
Jayne Schmitt, Investor Relations
United Defense
jayne.schmitt@udlp.com
(703) 312-6122

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

ARLINGTON, VA, April 26, 2004 - United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE: UDI) announced today that certain of its stockholders, affiliates of The Carlyle Group, sold approximately 4.5 million shares of its common stock, or approximately $155 million, in a public offering led by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. United Defense Industries will not receive any proceeds from the offering.

A shelf registration statement relating to these securities was filed and has been previously declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commissions (the “SEC”). A prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed by United Defense Industries Inc with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Printed copies of the prospectus supplement relating to the offering may also be obtained, when available, from the Prospectus Department of JPMorgan at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, Floor 5B, New York, NY 10081, 212-552-5164.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdictions in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About United Defense Industries Inc.
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 provides non-nuclear ship repair, modernization and conversion to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. Government agencies. To learn more about United Defense, 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, the Quarterly Report on Form 10 Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, and 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.

Conference Call
Listeners may access United Defense's quarterly conference call live at 10:00 a.m. EST today over the Internet, through a link in the Investors section of United Defense’s Web site at http://www.udlp.com/ir/webcast.htm. The dial-in-number to access this operator-assisted call is toll free 800/915-4836 or toll (International): 973/317-5319. Please allow fifteen minutes prior to the call to visit the site to download and install any necessary audio software. If you are unable to listen to the live call, please access www.uniteddefense.com at any time beginning after 2:00 pm today through April 29, 2004 to listen to a replay of the Webcast.