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                                                                      EXHIBIT 24


GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER    1-3671                           REPORTS ON FORM
IRS NO.  13-1673581     -----------                        10-K AND 10-Q
       ---------------


                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

                 KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned
Directors and/or officers of GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, a Delaware
corporation, hereby constitutes and appoints each of NICHOLAS D. CHABRAJA,
MICHAEL J. MANCUSO, PAUL A. HESSE, and his true and lawful attorney and agent,
in the name and on behalf of the under-signed, 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, and the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
any rules and regulations and requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (The Commission) in respect thereof, in connection with annual
reports to the commission on form 10-K, quarterly reports on form 10-Q, and
other reports as required by General Dynamics Corporation, including
specifically, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power
and authority to sign the names of the undersigned in his capacity as Director
and/or Officer of General Dynamics Corporation to reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission with respect thereto, to any and all
amendments, including hereby ratifying and confirming 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 21st day of March 1996.




/s/ Frank C. Carlucci                        /s/ Charles H. Goodman
- - --------------------------------             ---------------------------------
Frank C. Carlucci                            Charles H. Goodman


/s/ Nicholas D. Chabraja                     /s/ James R. Mellor
- - --------------------------------             ---------------------------------
Nicholas D. Chabraja                         James R. Mellor


/s/ James S. Crown                           /s/ Gordon R. Sullivan
- - --------------------------------             ---------------------------------
James S. Crown                               Gordon R. Sullivan


/s/ Lester Crown                             /s/ Carlisle A. H. Trost
- - --------------------------------             ---------------------------------
Lester Crown                                 Carlisle A. H. Trost