In the context of the vaccination rush I often wonder how military aircraft procurement was doing it when extreme r&d progress and extreme mass production were coinciding during ww2. New types were developed by companies (even the Soviets maintained a healthy competition between design bureaus) but once a type was established and in volume demand it apparently was manufactured wherever a production line could be adapted. Was that just free market subcontracting in the US or did DoD design bids come with something like a premeditated licensing option baked in from the beginning?

I think that the "free market" stopped to operate during that time. The whole economy was redirected to the war effort and everyone with it.

These programs were federally-funded with the goal to produce as much as possible. For production I'm sure that factories were financially compensated for the work.