Continental Defence Corvette

[Kirkhill]

A lot of this comes down to the control of the dissemination of information. In my view this is an outmoded idea. It is one that the commercial world confronted decades ago. They gave up on protecting secrets.

Patent laws were supposed to protect trade secrets.

Two problems:

To protect the secret you had to publish the secret you were trying to protect

The Chinese treated patent law as a capitalist plot to keep them down and cheerfully disregarded international patent law.

Result?

Plan B

Run faster than everybody else

End result

Successful companies adopted the fail fast and often strategy and exploited their short term leads as they could for as long as they could until they couldn't and relied on finding new opportunities to exploit.

...

The least convincing arguments are the ones that start with "You can't".

The world is filled with people figuring out "How?"

The even less convincing argument is "It is illegal".

The whole point of international conflict is determination of who gets to decide what is illegal.

...

The only laws that can't be ignored are the laws of physics. And even those are up for debate.

Bumblebees can fly despite some earlier interpretations of the laws of physics.

....

There comes a time when sunk capital is just sunk.

 

[Kirkhill]

Further to the "run faster" notion:

During World War II, approximately 50 to over 50 different development types/marks of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine were produced, ranging from the early Merlin I to the late-war 100-series, plus the US-produced Packard V-1650 variants.

There are 24 main marks (Mk I to Mk 24) of the Supermarine Spitfire, representing its development from 1937 to 1947. These primary marks were further divided into numerous sub-variants (e.g., Mk Vb, F Mk 24), primarily utilizing Rolls-Royce Merlin or Griffon engines, with modifications for roles like high-altitude fighting and photo-reconnaissance.

The Avro Lancaster had over 20 distinct variants and sub-variants, though the main production types were the B.I, B.II, B.III, and Canadian-built B.X. Key variants included those modified for specialized heavy bombs ("Specials"), photo-reconnaissance, air-sea rescue, and postwar roles.

The de Havilland Mosquito had over 35 to 40 distinct variants (or "marks") produced during World War II. Developed for versatility, the "Wooden Wonder" existed in several main roles, including bombers (B), photo-reconnaissance (PR), fighter-bombers (FB), night fighters (NF), and trainers (T), with over 7,780 total aircraft built.

Over 15,000 P-51 Mustangs were produced in over 20 major variants. The most produced and iconic version was the P-51D (over 8,000 built), while key variants included the Allison-powered P-51A, Merlin-powered P-51B/C, the P-51K (Dallas-built P-51D), and the high-speed P-51H. The A-36 Apache dive-bomber was also a notable early variant.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin and its de-rated tank variant, the Rolls-Royce Meteor, powered at least 38 distinct aircraft types, numerous types of combat vehicles, and specialized marine vessels through over 50 variants. Over 150,000 Merlin engines were produced (including licensed Packard V-1650s), alongside several thousand Meteors, representing a massive scale of application during and immediately after World War II.
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Aircraft Powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin (and Variants)

• Fighters/Interceptors: Supermarine Spitfire (various Marks), Hawker Hurricane, Boulton Paul Defiant, Fairey Fulmar, Fairey Firefly, de Havilland Mosquito (night fighter), de Havilland Hornet/Sea Hornet, North American P-51 Mustang (Packard V-1650), P-82 Twin Mustang, Bell XP-63 Kingcobra, Curtiss P-40F/L Kittyhawk, Westland Welkin.
• Bombers: Avro Lancaster, Handley Page Halifax, Vickers Wellington, Fairey Battle, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley.
• Reconnaissance/Transport/Trainer: Avro York, Avro Tudor, Canadair North Star, de Havilland Mosquito (recon/bomber), Supermarine Seafire, Boulton Paul Balliol, Avro Athena.
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Tanks and Armoured Vehicles Powered by Rolls-Royce Meteor
The Meteor was a non-supercharged, de-rated version of the Merlin designed for heavy armor.

• Cruiser Tanks: Cromwell, Challenger, Comet, Centurion (early models).
• Self-Propelled Artillery/Other: Avenger (SPG), Charioteer (tank destroyer), Tortoise (heavy assault tank), Caernarvon.
• Armoured Recovery/Support: Centurion-based vehicles.
• Experimental/Test: Sherman Firefly (experimental conversions), Various "A" series experimental tanks.
• Tank Transporters: Thornycroft Antar (used the Meteorite, a V8 version of the Meteor).
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Boats Powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin

• High-Speed Marine Craft: While primarily used in the air and on land, reconditioned Merlin engines were used in specialized high-speed boats, such as the 1100bhp Aeroboat.
• Note on PT Boats: Some sources suggest licensed Packards were used, but these were typically distinct Packard boat engines or diesel engines, not the aircraft-specific Merlin/V-1650

....

The Ukrainians and Russians are running still faster today.

It is only in peace time that we have the luxury of ossification.