[jjk166]

The weapons get tested, but there isn't the existential threat that drives people to actually change their behaviors in response to that data. If the Ukrainians jerry rig a $5k drone to work as well as a $50k missile, the US congress isn't going to cancel their contract for $50k missiles. If we were facing a peer adversary directly though, being able to get 10 times the firepower with the same resources might be a much higher priority.

Further, not everything gets tested when all you're facing are non-peer adversaries. For example the only US Navy ship currently in service that has ever sunk an enemy ship in combat is the USS Constitution, which did so more than 200 years ago.