True. This opinion is controversial, but I do feel if the United States doesn't invest in military tech R&D, someone else is going to do it.

And that someone else is an authoritarian, one-party state that has a completely different set of values from the West.

Of course, military efficiency can be made better, but it's super important to keep tabs on the 'enemy,' so to speak. We're in an arms race, whether we like it or not.