| General Dynamics Land Systems | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Defense |
| Location Country: | U.S. |
| Location: | Sterling Heights, Michigan |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Products: | Defense |
| Parent: | General Dynamics |
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is a manufacturer of military vehicles, including tanks and light armored fighting vehicles. The company is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and is a subsidiary of General Dynamics.
It was originally established in 1982 following the acquisition of Chrysler Defense.[1]
GDLS is known for developing and manufacturing vehicles such as the M1 Abrams tank, Stryker, and LAV 6.
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 and renamed General Dynamics Land Systems.[2] [3] Under this newly formed division, General Dynamics would take over production of the M60 and M1 tanks for the United States Army.
In 1985, 3 years after the sale from Chrysler, General Dynamics production plants in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania went on strike. Members of these plants were part of the United Automobile Workers union. The strike was primarily around wage increases.[4]
On April 11, 2024, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced its sanction on the company due to its arms sales to Taiwan.
General Dynamics Land Systems Australia was established in 2000 to support the production of ASLAV.[5]
In 2003 GDLS 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, GM Defense unit from General Motors. At the time, it produced vehicles such as the LAV-25 and Stryker. The London operation continued in the GM Diesel plant location.[6] SSF merged into the General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) unit.
In 2015, GDLS Canada secured a fourteen-year, $15-billion deal to supply light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.[7] Representatives from Unifor, the plant union, expressed concern that the London facility would suffer financially due to negative publicity surrounding the deal due to human rights concerns within Saudi Arabia.[8] 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. 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.
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.[9]