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                                                                    Exhibit 24.1

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

            KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned Directors
and/or Officers of GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, a Delaware corporation, hereby
constitute and appoint each of NICHOLAS D. CHABRAJA, MICHAEL J. MANCUSO and
DAVID A. SAVNER, as his true and lawful attorney and agent, in the name and on
behalf of the undersigned, to do any and all acts and things and execute any
and all instruments which the attorney and agent may deem necessary or
advisable to enable General Dynamics Corporation to comply with the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder
and any requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection
with the registration statement and proxy materials and any amendments thereto
to be filed with the commission on Forms S-4 and S-3, and any other documents
required to be filed in connection therewith, including specifically, but
without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the full power and authority
to sign the name of the undersigned in his capacity as a Director and/or
Officer of General Dynamics Corporation to any such documents, and any and all
amendments, and the undersigned hereby ratifies and confirms all that the
attorneys and agents, or any of them, has done, shall do or shall cause to be
done by virtue hereof.

            IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have hereunto set their hands
this 8th day of June, 1999.


/s/ JULIUS W. BECTON, JR.
--------------------------                      --------------------------
Julius W. Becton, Jr.                           George A. Joulwan


/s/ NICHOLAS D. CHABRAJA
--------------------------                      --------------------------
Nicholas D. Chabraja                            Paul G. Kaminski


                                                /s/ JAMES R. MELLOR
--------------------------                      --------------------------
James S. Crown                                  James R. Mellor


/s/ LESTER CROWN                                /s/ CARL E. MUNDY, JR.
--------------------------                      --------------------------
Lester Crown                                    Carl E. Mundy, Jr.


/s/ CHARLES H. GOODMAN
--------------------------                      --------------------------
Charles H. Goodman                              Carlisle A. H. Trost






