United Defense Receives Two Bradley Contracts Totaling $68 Million

Contact:
Herb Muktarian
United Defense
herb.muktarian@baesystems.com
(717) 225-8004

YORK, PA, February 14, 2005 - United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE: UDI) has received two separate contracts for the Bradley program; a change order not to exceed $54 million and a contract modification for $14.2 million.

Change order. The change order, not-to-exceed $54 million, from the U.S. Army’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) is a contract to provide 120 Bradley A3 vehicles instead of 131 Bradley Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) variants awarded in June.

The change order calls for 120 vehicles to be equipped with all the features of the A3 configuration with the exception of the Commander’s Independent Viewer, and is initially funded at $27 million. The A3, is a technologically advanced, digital combat system that significantly increases the Bradley's lethality and survivability in battle.

Under the order, United Defense will provide 80 Bradley M2A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 29 Bradley M3A3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles and 11 Bradley A3 Fire Support Vehicles (A3 B-FIST) to the Army. Work on the contract will be done at United Defense facilities in Aiken, SC and York and Fayette County, PA. Vehicle delivery is scheduled to begin in mid 2006.

Contract modification. The second contract is a $14.2 million modification, initially funded at $7.1 million, from TACOM to convert Bradley air defense variants to an infantry fighting vehicle configuration.

Under the contract modification, United Defense will remove the Stinger air defense equipment from 88 Bradleys and convert the vehicles to standard M2A2 ODS infantry fighting vehicles. This effort runs through June 2006. Work will be completed at United Defense facilities in York, PA, Santa Clara, CA and Aiken, SC.

The Bradley has played a centerpiece role in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and in the ongoing Global War on Terror is still providing outstanding survivability, mobility and lethality to our soldiers in all types of close combat urban scenarios or in open combat desert warfare.

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 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, 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.