If the airframe becomes a $2,000 commodity, the value doesn't vanish – it migrates to the layers every airframe needs. I see Teledyne owning the infrared sensor and seeker layer, selling detectors to everyone making drones, yet drones are only a slice of its defense revenue and sensors feel price discipline on cheap, high‑volume units. I also watch Amprius feeding high‑energy silicon‑anode batteries into the same government gauntlet; its edge rests partly on a policy mandate for compliant batteries rather than on physics alone, and it remains loss‑making and cash‑burning.
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