When thinking of international business successes, it's unlikely that the name “Marconi” is in anyone's mind. After all, Marconi Plc, the telecoms company and successor to GEC, imploded spectacularly after the dot-com bubble, after a series of disastrous management decisions. But there was another Marconi – Marconi Electronic Systems – that had been spun off from GEC and went on to form half of one of the world's biggest arms manufacturers (or defence companies, if you prefer).
The last years of the 20th century saw huge consolidation in the defence industry. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged, and Lockheed Martin was formed by the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta. Europe had designs on a consolidated defence company of its own, which eventually became EADS, then Airbus.
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