Por dentro da Engesa-Engenheiros Especializados, 1974–1990: Armas, negócios e inserção internacional de uma empresa brasileira.

The article examines the rise and fall of the firm Engesa-Engenheiros Especializados, especially between 1974 and 1990. The article is the result of research with documentary sources recently declassified by the National Archives. The consulted documentation suggests that, in its ascendant phase, Engesa was driven by an efficient link between the defense industry, arms exports, and Brazilian foreign policy, mainly during the bureaucratic-authoritarian governments of Ernesto Geisel and João Figueiredo. However, financial and administrative weaknesses, along with an unsuccessful and costly attempt to make a technological leap, put the firm in an unsustainable situation, finally leading to its fall and bankruptcy in the early 1990s. Engesa’s experience is a paradigmatic example in studies of technological innovation, strategic research, and international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]