Technology improves via the ratchet-effect meaning that economies only change when forced by wars or technological advances in other countries or other corporations. Then the losing country or corporation leap-frogs ahead with the next generation of technology. ... and the cycle repeats itself.
Sometimes losing a war can be an advantage - during the next war.
For example, after Germany lost WW1, the Versailles Treaty forced them to scrap most of their small arms and many millions of marks worth of tooling.
When they started re-arming for WW2, German factories had the luxury of choosing between WW1 pattern weapons or a new generation.
Since 95 percent of the old tooling was destroyed, Germany opted for new generations of small arms: P38 pistol, MP38/40 SMG and MG34 GPMG with automated tooling that increased precision while reducing manufacturing costs. Most notable were the complex stamped sheet-metal pieces used in MP40, MG42 and FG42 Mark 2 that required expensive hydraulic presses, but vastly reduced parts-count, fasteners and hand-fitting.
Meanwhile, Britain manufactured millions of WW1-pattern Lee-Enfield rifles and Vickers MGs with only tiny updates.
On the subject of SMGs, Britain rushed the heavy, expensive Lanchester SMG into production, but the Lanchester was merely a copy of the 1918 German Bergman SMG. Then Britain imported thousands of precisely-machined (Blish device) Thompson SMGs from the USA. In desperation, Britain introduced the crude STEN Gun, but STEN production was far from, high-tech because it was mostly hand-cut from standard sizes of steel tubing and standard gauges of sheet steel spot-welded together.
Even the American's second generation of SMGs (M3 Grease Gun) was sheet steel stamped on the hydraulic presses found in every American automobile factory.
Sometimes losing a war can be an advantage - during the next war.
For example, after Germany lost WW1, the Versailles Treaty forced them to scrap most of their small arms and many millions of marks worth of tooling.
When they started re-arming for WW2, German factories had the luxury of choosing between WW1 pattern weapons or a new generation.
Since 95 percent of the old tooling was destroyed, Germany opted for new generations of small arms: P38 pistol, MP38/40 SMG and MG34 GPMG with automated tooling that increased precision while reducing manufacturing costs. Most notable were the complex stamped sheet-metal pieces used in MP40, MG42 and FG42 Mark 2 that required expensive hydraulic presses, but vastly reduced parts-count, fasteners and hand-fitting.
Meanwhile, Britain manufactured millions of WW1-pattern Lee-Enfield rifles and Vickers MGs with only tiny updates.
On the subject of SMGs, Britain rushed the heavy, expensive Lanchester SMG into production, but the Lanchester was merely a copy of the 1918 German Bergman SMG. Then Britain imported thousands of precisely-machined (Blish device) Thompson SMGs from the USA. In desperation, Britain introduced the crude STEN Gun, but STEN production was far from, high-tech because it was mostly hand-cut from standard sizes of steel tubing and standard gauges of sheet steel spot-welded together.
Even the American's second generation of SMGs (M3 Grease Gun) was sheet steel stamped on the hydraulic presses found in every American automobile factory.