General Dynamics will change chief executives for the first time since 2013, and it is promoting from inside. The company said on Wednesday that its board had elected Danny Deep, its president, to be chief executive from 1 January 2027. Phebe Novakovic, who has run the company since January 2013, will become executive chairman, according to the company's announcement.
Deep, 56, has worked at General Dynamics for 25 years. Before he was made president in December 2025, he was executive vice president of global operations, executive vice president of combat systems and president of General Dynamics Land Systems, whose products include the Abrams tank. The board elected him a director in August, the company said at the time. Industry watchers had read his promotion to president as a signal that he was next in line, Breaking Defense reported. Novakovic is 68, according to Defense Daily.
"Danny is a highly skilled executive with rich operating experience. It has been a pleasure working closely with him and I am certain he will be an outstanding CEO," Novakovic said.
"I am profoundly honored to be selected as the next CEO of General Dynamics and humbled and deeply thankful for the board's confidence," said Deep.
What she leaves him
When Novakovic took over, the industry was heading into sequestration and falling military demand, Washington Technology noted. Under her, the company won major programmes as defence spending began rising later in the decade. Revenue went from $31 billion in 2017 to $52.6 billion in 2025, an increase of about 70 per cent by this publication's arithmetic. In 2018 General Dynamics made its largest acquisition, buying the government IT contractor CSRA for $9.7 billion.
In 2019 it won the Navy's largest shipbuilding contract to that point, worth up to $24.2 billion, for nuclear-powered submarines, Virginia Business reported. Revenue in 2024 was $47.7 billion. The company now employs more than 120,000 people.
The order book is larger than the business. At the end of the second quarter, General Dynamics had a backlog of $136.5 billion, according to its results, and it took in $20 billion of orders in the quarter against $14.1 billion of revenue. Adding management's estimate of the value of unexercised options and unfunded contracts, total estimated contract value was $186.9 billion. By this publication's arithmetic ($136.5 billion divided by 2025 revenue of $52.6 billion), the backlog alone is about 2.6 years of last year's revenue.
The job is output
That is why the choice of an operations executive matters. In July, presenting a quarter in which revenue rose 8.1 per cent and earnings per share 13.4 per cent, Novakovic framed the company's task as producing faster.
"We are well positioned to support our customers' needs and are continuing to make significant investments to increase output to meet strong and growing demand," she said.
The pressure is most visible in submarines. General Dynamics Electric Boat builds the Virginia class together with HII's Newport News Shipbuilding. The Navy wants two a year, and the yards were producing about one a year as of June 2025, according to the Government Accountability Office. This week Anduril announced a $3.7 billion yard in Maryland to supply them with components, backed by a Navy contract worth up to $2.9 billion. Final assembly stays with Electric Boat and Newport News.
Changes beneath him
The succession was announced five days after another senior departure. On Friday 2 October, General Dynamics said Amy Gilliland had left as president of General Dynamics Information Technology, which she had led since 2017. The announcement gave no reason, GovCon Wire reported. Paul Nedzbala, the unit's chief business officer, is running it on an interim basis. Breaking Defense called Gilliland's exit a surprise. The IT unit has about 26,000 employees.
Nick Barnaby, whose appointment as general counsel was announced in July, will start on the same day as Deep, GovCon Wire noted.
Novakovic is not leaving. As executive chairman she will remain at the head of the board, and both she and Deep spoke of continuing to work together. "We have every confidence that he will continue the outstanding leadership and legacy that Phebe has exemplified," said Laura Schumacher, the board's independent lead director.
For investors, that is the point of an insider succession: little changes at the top while the work changes underneath. The test for Deep is whether the factories, and especially the submarine yards, can turn an order book of this size into deliveries at the pace customers want.
The election of Danny Deep, the effective date, Phebe Novakovic's new role, Deep's previous posts, his 25 years with the company, the quoted remarks of Novakovic, Deep and Laura Schumacher, the workforce and 2025 revenue are from General Dynamics' announcement of 7 October 2026. Deep's age and his election to the board are from the company's announcement of 6 August 2026. Novakovic's age is as reported by Defense Daily on 7 October 2026; that she became chief executive in January 2013 is as reported by Defense Daily and Washington Technology on 7 October 2026. The dates of Deep's promotions and the 2024 revenue, the 2019 submarine contract and the size of GDIT's workforce are as reported by Virginia Business on 7 October 2026. The 2017 revenue, the CSRA acquisition and the conditions when Novakovic became chief executive are as reported by Washington Technology on 7 October 2026. The reading of Deep's promotion as a succession signal and the description of Gilliland's exit as a surprise are from Breaking Defense on 7 October 2026. Gilliland's departure, the absence of a stated reason, Paul Nedzbala's interim appointment and Nick Barnaby's start date are as reported by GovCon Wire on 5 and 8 October 2026. The second-quarter figures and Novakovic's July remarks are from General Dynamics' results announcement of 29 July 2026. The Virginia-class production figures are from the Government Accountability Office as cited in this publication's report of 7 October 2026. That General Dynamics Land Systems' products include the Abrams is from the unit's website. The revenue growth since 2017 and the ratio of backlog to revenue are this publication's arithmetic. The analysis is our own.
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