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Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Defense |
Predecessor | Force Protection Inc |
Founded | March 7, 1982 |
Headquarters | Sterling Heights, Michigan, US |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Defense |
Parent | General Dynamics |
Website | www |
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is a manufacturer of military vehicles such as tanks and lighter armored fighting vehicles.
In February 1982 Chrysler announced the sale of Chrysler Defense, its profitable defense subsidiary, to General Dynamics for US$348.5 million. The sale was completed in March 1982 for the revised figure of US$336.1 million. [1] Renamed General Dynamics Land Systems, [2] General Dynamics, accustomed to paying its factory workers lower wages than Chrysler Defense, balked at the union's proposed wage increases. [3] The division operates the Lima Army Tank Plant and General Dynamics Anniston Operations in Anniston, Alabama, along with smaller operations in Tallahassee, Florida, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Headquarters are located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. As of 2016, General Dynamics Land Systems employed 6,800 people. [4]
In 2003 it acquired Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (SSF), the land defense vehicles unit of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a subsidiary of General Dynamics based in London, Ontario, purchased General Motors Diesel's GM Defense unit from General Motors. It supplies such armored vehicles as the LAV-25, the Stryker, and other models based on these chassis. The London operation is located at GM Diesel's old plant on Oxford Street East. [5] SSF merged into the General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) unit.
After the division secured a fourteen-year, $15-billion deal to supply light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, [6] Unifor representatives expressed concern that the London plant would suffer financially due to negative publicity surrounding the deal and that union members employed at the plant would lose their jobs. [6] Both Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democrat Thomas Mulcair challenged Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the secrecy surrounding military sales to Saudi Arabia, [6] while David Perry, senior analyst with the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, argued that secrecy in trade details is part of a pragmatic foreign trade policy necessary for a domestic industry in a global market. [6]
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It has four-wheel drive (8×4) and can be switched to all-wheel drive (8×8).
The Mowag Piranha is a family of armoured fighting vehicles designed by the Swiss company Mowag.
The RG-31 Nyala is a 4×4 multi-purpose mine-resistant ambush protected infantry mobility vehicle manufactured in South Africa by Land Systems OMC, located in Benoni, South Africa and in Turkey by FNSS Defence Systems. It is based on the Mamba APC of TFM Industries.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names.
General Dynamics Land Systems–Australia provides engineering, manufacturing, systems integration, upgrade and fleet management services for GDLS Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the Asia Pacific region. In Australia this includes the ADF's ASLAV Light Armoured Vehicles and M1A1 Main Battle Tanks, supported under a Through Life Support Contract awarded in June 2011.
Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) is a major United States Army facility for the production and repair of ground combat vehicles, overhaul of Small Arms Weapon Systems and the storage of chemical weapons, a.k.a. the Anniston Chemical Activity. The depot is located in Bynum, Alabama.
The LAV III is the third generation of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, Ontario, based subsidiary of General Dynamics. It first entered service in 1999, succeeding the LAV II. It is the primary mechanized infantry vehicle of both the Canadian Army and the New Zealand Army. It also forms the basis of the Stryker vehicle used by the U.S. Army and other operators. The Canadian Army is upgrading its LAV IIIs to the LAV 6 standard. Early in its development history it was referred to as the 'Kodiak', but the name was never officially adopted.
The LAV-25 is a member of the LAV II family. It is an eight-wheeled amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicle built by General Dynamics Land Systems and used by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army.
The ASCOD armoured fighting vehicle family is the product of a cooperation agreement between Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG and Spanish General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas. Both companies are now divisions of a unit of General Dynamics. The ASCOD family includes the LT 105 light tank equipped with a 105 mm gun, a surface-to-air missile launcher, an anti-tank guided missile launcher, mortar carrier, R&R vehicle, command-and-control vehicle, ambulance, artillery observer, and the AIFV model.
The Pandur II is an improved modular all-wheel-drive version of the Pandur 6x6 APC wheeled armoured vehicle. It was developed as a private venture by the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge. Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge is part of General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), which is also the parent company of MOWAG of Switzerland and Santa Bárbara Sistemas of Spain.
The Pandur is an APC developed and produced by the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge (SSF). It was developed during the 1980s as a private venture. In 2003, General Dynamics took over Steyr-Daimler-Puch which is now part of General Dynamics European Land Systems, which is also the parent company of MOWAG, Santa Bárbara Sistemas and GD ELS – Germany.
The M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS) is an eight-wheeled assault gun of the Stryker family, mounting a 105 mm tank gun, based on the Canadian LAV III light-armored vehicle manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems for the U.S. Army.
The Expeditionary Tank was a light tank developed in the 1980s initially by Teledyne Vehicle Systems. Later joined by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), the companies entered the US Army's Armored Gun System (AGS) competition with the design. Since the tank never entered service, it did not receive an official designation. Alternative names for the Expeditionary Tank include the Teledyne Light Tank and the Slammer.
The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, also known as the Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP) is a tank plant located in Lima, Ohio. It is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility currently operated by General Dynamics Land Systems. Workers at the plant are represented by UAW Local 2075.
The Pinzgauer is a family of high-mobility all-terrain 4WD (4×4) and 6WD (6×6) military utility vehicles. The vehicle was originally developed in the late 1960s and manufactured by Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz, Austria, and was named after the Pinzgauer, an Austrian breed of cattle. They were most recently manufactured at Guildford in Surrey, England by BAE Systems Land & Armaments. It was popular amongst military buyers, and continued in production there throughout the rest of the century.
The Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV), previously known as the Medium Armored Vehicle (MAV), was a U.S. Army armored fighting vehicle acquisition program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors Defense proposed a vehicle based on the LAV III. The Army selected the LAV III proposal over three other submissions. The LAV III was renamed Stryker.
The Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) is a series of armoured vehicles built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, Ontario-based subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is a license-produced version of the Mowag Piranha. The first generation of LAV was created by Mowag for the Armoured Vehicle General Purpose (AVGP) requirement of the Canadian Army. This was a 6x6 variant of the Piranha I produced by General Motors Diesel in London, Ontario. Since entering service in 1976, it has undergone a number of upgrades. The LAV II introduced the now-familiar 8x8 configuration. The LAV continues to form the backbone of the Canadian Army's combat vehicle fleet. The LAV series of vehicles exist in a number of different variants and are used in a number of different roles such as armoured personnel carriers, engineering vehicles, command posts, ambulances and armoured recovery vehicles.
The Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) is a U.S. Army program to procure a combat vehicle that is capable of providing mobile, protected, direct fire offensive capability. The projected vehicle has been designated the M10 Booker, and will according to description essentially serve the role of an assault gun. The program is part of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program.
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDLS) is an automotive and arms manufacturer spread across Europe, with a headquarter in Madrid, Spain. It is a business unit of General Dynamics which consolidated in one structure all European subsidiaries of GDLS.