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gelgoog said:

US solid missile industry is a duopoly in effect. And Raytheon is probably going to end up screwed in the long term and end up as a historic food note. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman hold all the cards since they absorbed both ATK and Aerojet respectively. Raytheon relies on those external suppliers to make the essential components like the rocket motor of what they produce. Most US solid fuel production is also basically highly centralized and ATK controls most of it. All the way from the fuel used in rifle ammo to solid rockets. The US industry is basically the worst of both worlds. Neither has the low overhead costs of a state military industrial complex, nor will have enough market competition to keep pushing the leading edge faster than a monopoly would.

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Don't think it necessarily works that way. You could say GE and P&W are duopolies but they push the leading edge in their industry.

GE and P&W are independent companies and operate like those. ATK and Aerojet will be part of the vertically integrated military duopoly. And the gas turbine companies also have (some) limited competition like Honeywell. Or even Rolls Royce. Just look at latest B-52 engine upgrade program.

I have been thinking: If China bought the F14 back then, what would the Chinese Air Force be like today?

type055 said:

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I have been thinking: If China bought the F14 back then, what would the Chinese Air Force be like today?

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The F-14 Super Tomcat 21 variant might've actually seen the light of day.
Assuming that they would be "Sinicizing" the Tomcats they way they did with the Flankers.

Instead of the Flankers, the 601 team would've conceived and built an entire family of heavyweight fighters based on the F-14 platform, which likely would've included an air superiority variant (think of J-11B), a multirole strike variant (think of J-16/15B), and likely an EW variant (think of J-16D/15D), all of which would've operated from both land and carriers. These would have been upgraded the same way modern PLAAF Flankers are: with AESA radar, modernized integrated EW suite, new engines, new AAMs, and such. In this alternate universe, we can assume that the PLAAF would've had access to early American AAMs and engines, so instead of the PL-XX and WS-XX, their AAM and engine development would've gone down a different path.

Access to variable geometry wing technology might've spurred the development of similar aircraft, such as the cancelled Q-6 ground attack jet. Depending on how early the F-14 were sold to China, this might've negated the necessity of several existing PLAAF fighters, including the Q-5 and the JH-7, which then wouldn't have existed.

Assuming that Sino-US relations are still "sour" in this alternate universe, the Chinese would've had no issues concerning the export of this notional "J-14" to friendly states, among which Iran would almost certainly be a buyer.

A notional "Super Tomcat 2010" upgrade plan is shown below. If the PLAAF had their way with the Tomcat design, I think we would've seen a similar fighter:

Speculation about "what if China bought F-14s" is entirely inappropriate for this thread.

Moved to the US military thread.

Or even better, why even discuss the topic in the first place.

Wow!! GPC IS a number game.

gelgoog said:

GE and P&W are independent companies and operate like those. ATK and Aerojet will be part of the vertically integrated military duopoly. And the gas turbine companies also have (some) limited competition like Honeywell. Or even Rolls Royce. Just look at latest B-52 engine upgrade program.

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Pratt and Whitney (P&W) is owned by Raytheon which has merged with United Technologies Corp (UTC)

Just great. Raytheon, the missile and electronics company, gets to buy a jet engine manufacturer. And Lockheed, the jet aircraft maker, gets to buy the solid rocket supplier. What an amazing tangled web. GE as of late has also been in deep financial straits. So they might break up or even get acquired who knows.

gelgoog said:

Just great. Raytheon, the missile and electronics company, gets to buy a jet engine manufacturer. And Lockheed, the jet aircraft maker, gets to buy the solid rocket supplier. What an amazing tangled web. GE as of late has also been in deep financial straits. So they might break up or even get acquired who knows.

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Thats why it amuses me when americans think oligarchs and monopolies are a third world thing only