Vickers could offer a government warships, commercial ships, guns and mountings, armour, turbines, engines, aircraft, explosives, tools, and railway equipment through one corporate system. Armstrong Whitworth and several other British combines possessed similarly broad capabilities. Most countries had only one or two firms approaching this scale, while Britain could draw on roughly four or five depending on the date and definition used. Their ability to design and manufacture so much in house gave them research budgets comparable to those of small nations. This industrial concentration placed much of the Royal Navy's technological base in private hands.
Notable Point · 5:46-8:28
Integrated armaments firms could equip entire states
Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth combined warships, guns, armour, engines, aircraft, and railway equipment on a scale rarely found in modern defence industry.