every other regional power will be using advanced smart weapons built with off the shelf Ali Express parts

Biggest factor in cost is all the other regional great powers (China, Russia, Iran) have military industry under state enterprise while the US military industry is entirely privatized. The state enterprise military industry operates under supremacy of responsibility to the nation while the US privatized military industry has fiduciary responsibility to private capital as their only real responsibility. Under US law the corporate leadership of Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman must follow a doctrine of shareholder supremacy and those shareholders are not the American people but a collection of private capital investment banks. It would be against US law for them to not make every effort (including buying politicians) to under deliver on contracts and milk every possible dollar from the US government.