Drones

[dogscoff]

Well, like you say, they're better than ships because they require no maintenance. You can build up a huge store of them in peacetime, ready for when the fighting starts.

They're better than missiles because they can be launched outside of combat.

They're better than fighters because they use "grown up" weapons and components instead of those poxy miniaturised fighter ones.

They're better than sats because they move.

(Of course, when I say "they're better than...", I mean "the advantage they have is..." - I'm not suggesting than ships, sats, missiles and fighters are now obselete.)