United Defense Awarded $143 Million Contract to Provide Bradley Combat System Vehicles for U.S. Army

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

YORK, PA, April 6, 2005 - United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE:UDI) has been awarded a contract modification valued at $143 million to provide Bradley Combat System vehicles for the U.S. Army. The award was funded initially at $71.5 million.

Awarded by the Army’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), the contract modification calls for United Defense to remanufacture and upgrade 55 fully-digitized Bradley A3 vehicles.

"We are excited about this opportunity to provide additional Bradley A3 vehicles for the Army," said Andy Hove, Director of Bradley Combat Systems for United Defense. "The A3 designation refers to the Bradley's advanced digital architecture and other key improvements. It is the best version of the Bradley we can build and we're looking forward to putting more of them into the hands of soldiers."

The Bradley A3 is a technologically advanced, digital combat system that significantly increases the Bradley's lethality and survivability in battle. The Bradley has played a centerpiece role in Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to provide outstanding survivability, mobility and lethality to U.S. soldiers in all types of close combat urban scenarios or in open combat terrain. The Bradley Combat System fulfills critical infantry, cavalry, fire support, battle command and engineer roles for the Army’s heavy brigades.

Work on the remanufacture contract will begin immediately and will be performed at the company’s facilities in York, PA, Fayette County, PA and Aiken, SC, in conjunction with the public/private partnership between Red River Army Depot and United Defense. All vehicles are scheduled for delivery by January 2007.

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 10K for the year ended December 31, 2004, 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.