United Defense Completes Acquisition of Kaiser Compositek

ARLINGTON, Va.--Feb. 9, 2004--United Defense Industries, Inc. announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the assets of Kaiser Compositek, Inc. (KCI) for $ 8.5 million to enhance and expand the development of highly advanced weapon systems and combat vehicles for the armed forces.

Kaiser Compositek, located in Brea, Calif., is a provider to government and industry sectors with particular emphasis on primary structures fabricated with polymeric composites. Kaiser provides sophisticated design, analysis, prototyping, and development capabilities and has a manufacturing capability with a broad array of composite processes, including filament winding, resin transfer molding, autoclave molding, compression molding, and surface finishing. KCI revenue for 2003 was in excess of $ 14 million.

"This acquisition expands our ability to meet customer needs in the areas of lighter weight gun and missile launching systems for our naval and ground combat customers," said Keith Howe, Vice President and General Manager of United Defense's Armament Systems Division. "The addition of KCI products, capabilities, and people to our corporate family strengthens our full range of product offerings and allows us to leap forward in our ongoing research and development of lighter weight components for our current and future combat systems."

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, 2002, the Quarterly Report on Form 10 Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, and 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.