I don't think any industry/free market can compare for example to the war-time mobilization of industry displayed in the USA and the Soviet Union during WWII.

I don't think any industry/free market can compare for example to the war-time mobilization of industry displayed in the USA and the Soviet Union during WWII. For huge scale production, centralized planning can't be beat, at least for a period of time. I believe the same is true of the early space race, or the Manhattan Project.