I get that. I am a manufacturing/design Engineer, so I know how costs can mount up. 250k for a press, tooling maybe 200k etc. It all adds up. Want to make a new food mixer from scratch, lets say 2 million for the kit to make the parts. That's before labour, test etc.
But this is an aerospace company. They have the kit. They have existing designs. They have all this stuff already.
In fact, I was reading that to restart the F22 Raptor production will cost about half a billion. That to me says two things. Either they have repurposed the equipment, or they have scrapped it.
I get it re commercial airliners. But because they are limited by commercial factors, they tend to be incremental. So you end up with the 437 max. Compromises have to be made to keep costs down.
And don't forget, the unit cost of military does not cover the full cost. Much of the design and development is just paid by Government.
Exotic materials ? Fine. More exotic than on the F35?
The unit cost of these drones just screams at me out of control spend. Honestly. Want to fly an instrument package at 50k feet ? Buy a Gulfstream and bolt it onto that.
:-)