United Defense Installs First WaterSentry^TM Security

Alert System for Commercial and Military Use

Contact:
Herb Muktarian
Ground Systems Division
herb.muktarian@baesystems.com
(717) 225-8004

Kelly Flanagan
Ground Systems Division
kelly.flanagan@baesystems.com
(717) 225-8487

York, PA, June 2, 2005 - United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE:UDI), along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has completed the first commercial and military installations of the WaterSentry^TM monitoring system at facilities in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee.

WaterSentry^TM is the first product to automatically and continuously test for chemical toxins that have been introduced into water supplies. It is a fully automated system that continuously tests algae activity. Within minutes, the system can detect the presence of a chemical contaminant and provide an immediate alert to a remotely located control station.

"WaterSentry^TM is a new approach to quickly detect toxic chemicals in large-scale, primary- source drinking water supplies for homeland security and regulatory use. We believe it to be the only water sensor of its kind. It is fully automated, easily maintained, and reduces the need for personnel to go to sites to manually test water," said Steve McCarter, Manager Business Development/ Security Systems for United Defense. "The installation of WaterSentry^TM will help secure the source of drinking water for millions of households. WaterSentry is always on the alert, warning of potential problems that can be minimized with early intervention."

United Defense integrated Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) AquaSentinel technology into WaterSentry under an exclusive license. The system employs ORNL technology to continuously and automatically test for chemical toxins by measuring algae fluorescence.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Basic Energy Sciences program funded the basic research on photochemistry before the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded the initial application as biosensors. Development of WaterSentry and the integration of ORNL's AquaSentinel technology was funded by United Defense through DOE's Work for Others program.

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.