General Dynamics NASSCO Starts Construction of Seventh T-AKE Ship

SAN DIEGO – General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), today announced the start of construction on the seventh dry cargo-ammunition ship in the U.S. Navy’s T-AKE program. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the first quarter of 2009.

“With two ships delivered to the Navy and five ships under construction, the T-AKE class is a major shipbuilding program for NASSCO,” said General Dynamics NASSCO President Frederick J. Harris.
“We look forward to building and delivering these next-generation replenishment ships for many years to come.”

Since June 2006, NASSCO has delivered USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) and USNS Sacagawea
(T-AKE 2) to the Navy. The third ship of the class, USNS Alan Shepard, and the recently-launched USNS Richard E. Byrd will also be delivered to the Navy by the end of 2007. The T-AKE class is expected to include 11 ships for the Military Sealift Command fleet.