Since January 1996, Lockheed Martin has bought most of Loral. Lockheed then sold some of itscommunications businesses, as well as its combat-vehicle, armored gun-systems andmedical-imaging systems businesses. It also divested its construction-materials subsidiary andclosed several plants. All that happened while the world's second-largest aerospace companyexpanded its commercial-information systems unit and won new military and space projectsworldwide.