The defense units of Rockwell International (number 12), FMC (number 14) and Unisys (number 15) disappeared in similar fashion.

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That was just before Jones shifted over from Rockwell International in 1995 to become head of the air-transport business.

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So in 1996 it acquired the military and aerospace lines of Rockwell International, heir to the old North American Aircraft franchises.

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Founded in 1895 as U.S. Voting Machine Co. to exploit Thomas Edison's pioneering invention to make elections more honest, the company plodded along for decades and was sold to Rockwell International.

FORBES: Indestructible

Founded in 1895 as U.S. Voting Machine Co. to exploit Thomas Edison's pioneering invention to make elections more honest, the company plodded along for decades and was eventually sold to Rockwell International.

FORBES: Indestructible

"We compete in the land of the giants, " says Jones, 56, a onetime fighter pilot for the Air Force who later spent 15 years coaxing Congress and the Pentagon to fund big-ticket Rockwell International programs like the B-1 bomber.

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The company that CEO McNerney took over in 2005 on the heels of two failed predecessors was a fractious confederation of old Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International and Hughes Electronics employees full of redundant facilities and divided loyalties.

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After experience with early hand- held calculators at Rockwell International, with the first consumer video tape recorder at Cartridge Television, and with the original computer controlled video editing systems at CMX Systems, a CBS-Memorex joint venture, he began his own management consulting business in 1974.

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