Can high-end drones preserve fighter-building capacity?

Can building high-end aerial drones preserve the industrial capacity needed for high-end fighters?

Yes if the drone has comparable missions and performance, because it will retain much of the same industrial complexity and cost as a crewed fighter.

A high-end drone could preserve fighter-building capacity if it amounted to a fourth-and-a-half- or fifth-generation fighter without a pilot. That level of capability would also make it an expensive drone. Mission requirements determine how large an aircraft must be: additional tasks and greater range still require equipment and space whether it is crewed or uncrewed. The same constraint carries over to its carrier, whose size depends on the number and dimensions of the aircraft it must operate.