General Dynamics Will Buy Lucent Unit

General Dynamics Corp. will buy Lucent Technologies Inc.’s military products business for $300 million. General Dynamics, which makes tanks, submarines and Navy destroyers, said it will pay $284 million in cash and assume about $16 million in liabilities in the deal. Lucent’s military unit makes products for underwater surveillance and for reducing vibrations in submarines. The acquisition would help Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics’ bid to expand its shipbuilding business. Once one of the biggest U.S. arms makers, General Dynamics shrunk in the early 1990s by selling its fighter aircraft, missile and space-related businesses. The transaction would leave General Dynamics with about $504 million in cash on hand, enough to make more acquisitions. GD will retain Lucent’s 1,200 employees. GD’s shares fell 94 cents to close at $82.44; shares of Lucent, based in Murray Hill, N.J., fell $2.06 to close at $83.50. Both trade on the NYSE.