Pentagon to explore cheaper replacements for the MQ-9 Reaper

I just find this topic soooo interesting. Not drones per se, but the idea that shooting down a $20k Shahed-136 drone with a $4 million Patriot interceptor just isn't sustainable. The US relies too heavily on exotic, highly capable but expensive technology. I mean I guess you need that capability for certain types of fighting, but fighting a longer war against a determined near-peer adversary means we just wouldn't be able to sustain a war effort. Replacements are too expensive and too slow. The US needs a class of war fighting that is mass producible. A bit less capable, but if you have a zillion of the things.