I think a small (in terms of GDP) country developing major weapons systems is an impossibly difficult position to be in. The R&D costs are stupendous, so you ne

I think a small (in terms of GDP) country developing major weapons systems is an impossibly difficult position to be in. The R&D costs are stupendous, so you need to sell a lot of units to make the per-unit costs bearable. Since you're a small country, domestic demand isn't enough. Superpowers buy lots of gear, but they also very strongly prefer their own domestic technology. So you basically have to sell to a lot of other small countries, in competition with the superpowers who are also eager to get export income and political influence.