The US military had almost exclusively considered drones as expensive systems like the Predator used for standoff ground fire support much like an attack helico

The US military had almost exclusively considered drones as expensive systems like the Predator used for standoff ground fire support much like an attack helicopter, or for use in counterinsurgency like the Switchblade But in their defense, they never anticipated having to fight a near peer adversary on land to the extent Ukraine has. But I would argue no one really saw this coming to this degree. The Bayraktar for instance, was much along the lines of US drone philosophy, costing several million a piece, The drones used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict were mostly used along that philosophy as well