Governments often prefer research and development because prototypes display progress at a lower immediate cost than full production. That bargain leaves armed forces waiting for equipment when a crisis turns a demonstrator into an urgent requirement. Manufacturers may then reveal that their factories lack the tooling and capacity to build the system quickly. The passage makes industrial readiness part of drone strategy: possessing a design is not the same as being able to field it at wartime scale.
Notable Point · 13:09-14:25
A drone demonstrator is not a wartime production line
Drone research programs can produce impressive prototypes without creating the factories, tooling, and surge capacity needed when war suddenly raises demand.