How would a drone be able to protect our troops from bad guys who ambush them “just across the road,” as I am sure has happened in Afganistan and Iraq. Unlike an A-10 pilot who could use his gun and pick out the bad guys across the road,I don’t see how a drone could accomplish this.
To pick out those rag-tag insurgents, all you need is a vintage jet fighter, not a multi-million ultra sophisticated jet.
Again, if we had surplus budgets, I would be all for spending on military first. But I can not see the wisdom in borrowing from China to build unnecessary hardware.