We did have 0.18 micron capability, but when GEC was split up, it eventually disappeared. Partly because the Taiwanese and PRC governments subsidised suitable foundries and could produce more cheaply. So we managed to lose a strategically important industry, and even the bits that were kept were eventually canned on the grounds that it was cheaper to buy from Taiwan and PRC. Sounds very like Dilbert….. Back in the 1980s, there wasn't major US military electronics program without a Plessey Semiconductors IC in it somewhere. Then management said there was no growth in military semiconductors, wanting to sell 50,000 pieces at a profit of 1 cent each instead of 1000 pieces at $5 profit each, and failing in both areas....That plant in Swindon is now a heavily chemically contaminated area of weeds - and successive governments let it happen.
Tecumseh in #25 makes the point well about source code....