But you can't handwave away the difference without understanding how it would affect the cost of your "cheap counter to the F-35." Do you know how much an AIM-120 costs? How much it weighs? How much reinforcement the wing structure of a drone would require to carry, launch and land with this weaponry?
> AIM-120 cost
$300k - $400k
> How much it weighs?
152 kg
> How much reinforcement the wing structure of a drone would require to carry, launch and land with this weaponry?
According to General Atomics;
"With a 1,500 lb (680 kg) payload, its wings are 'more than sufficient' to mount larger air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles."
The last quote is for the Reaper, a new version of the Predator that costs 4x as much. $16m is much cheaper than a fighter jet, but when you start deploying them in swarms of 20:1 ratios, the numbers don't work.
You're flailing around moving the goalposts at this point. The Predator/Reaper drones are more generalist platforms than you'd need for a disposable drone built around an air to air missile.
Nothing says you can't have a few dozen/hundred drones with SAMs, either.