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Commercialization

FTC Approves Gencorp (Aerojet) Acquisition of PWR Despite Monopoly

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
June 12, 2013
Filed under , , ,

FTC Approves Concludes Investigation of GenCorp’s Purchase of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, FTC
Although the FTC concluded that the deal will give GenCorp a monopoly in the market for a type of advanced missile defense interceptor propulsion system, the Commission decided not to challenge the transaction, primarily because the Department of Defense wishes to see the transaction go forward for national security reasons.

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3 responses to “FTC Approves Gencorp (Aerojet) Acquisition of PWR Despite Monopoly”

  1. Dewey Vanderhoff says:
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    A splendid working example of the government giving a sole contractor ” carte blanche ” based on ” National Security “. Only the alleged need for a single specific interceptor missile engine is the ball and chain that ties up everything else Pratt & Whitney makes for everyone and everything else. Carte blanchely.

    • Steve Whitfield says:
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      At the same time, though, it’s got to be a tough call on the part of the FTC. When do you let the laws of commerce be overridden by (alleged) national security concerns? If they had stuck to the letter of the law and not approved this, and then five years down the road it turned out that it was a genuine capability/facility that the nation needed, it would obviously be too late to make the right call. Although DOD often seems to be the spoiled child, there are times when favoring them is the right move, but it’s often only in hindsight that anyone can know the right call for sure. Perhaps erring on the side of survival is preferable to cutting off advanced capabilities. It’s a very subjective issue, and the public, of course, never has all of the details provided to them.

  2. WasBill says:
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    Forget LDACS. Given SpaceX has not, to my knowledge, shown any interest in providing their engines to any one else, doesn’t this create a monopoly for all liquid engines?