A buddy of mine got into racing drones and their construction a while back. He designs the frames of his and then has them machined out of carbon fiber. Hes got drones pushing 200 mph that cost less than 200 bucks to assemble, and theyre flown by VR headset, so its like youre in the cockpit when flying it. I can imagine for a few grand and no concern over the regulatory environment you could crank out some ferocious unmanned aircraft.
https://www.popsci.com/future-air-force-fighters-leading-drone-swarms
The future of the Air Force is fighter pilots leading drone swarms into battle
Cheap, unmanned wingmen could add punch and protection to fighter formations.
The future of the United States Air Force is a human-piloted, $100 million stealth jet guiding flocks of $3 million drones that glide effortlessly into position powered by turbo fans. Thanks to the Air Force Research Lab and drone-maker Kratos, that future of combined human/robot formation is already being tested.