UPDATE 1-General Dynamics CEO Chabraja to retire next year

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NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - General Dynamics Corp (GD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday that Nicholas Chabraja would retire as CEO on June 30, 2009, in line with his employment contract, but remain as chairman of the No. 4 U.S. defense contractor until May 2010.

Chabraja will be succeeded as CEO by Jay Johnson, a member of General Dynamics' board since 2003, and currently CEO of Dominion Virginia Power. Johnson will join General Dynamics in September as vice chairman and become CEO on July 1, 2009.

General Dynamics makes Abrams tanks, Stryker fighting vehicles and Gulfstream business jets. It has a large shipbuilding unit that makes warships and nuclear submarines.

Chabraja, 65, has been CEO of the company since 1997.

Johnson, 61, will retire on June 1 from Dominion Virginia, a unit of energy company Dominion Resources (D.N: Quote, Profile, Research), that company said separately. He was formerly chief of Naval Operations of the U.S. Navy, until retiring as an admiral in July 2000. (Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Richard Chang)