Let us say we need to know about Enemy Base and probably need to take something out on or near Enemy Base.
A stealth reconnaissance drone can be sent to fly over the area of Enemy Base.
The stealth reconnaissance drone can relay targeting data by say laser to a missile that is flown safely many miles high over Enemy Base at the same time. Remember a human pilot only sees what his eyes can see looking out of the cockpit and at LED screens. The missile (with help) can relay targeting information back to a command center.
A warhead missile that was sent to arrive at the area of Enemy Base shortly thereafter can then be targeted by the command center. The warhead missile might be launched from a fairly cheap stand-by/stand-off aircraft.
The stealth reconnaissance drone, targeting information relay missile(s) and warhead missile would all be fairly cheap by Pentagon standards.
A first stealth reconnaissance drone could fly very close to Enemy Base with infrared sensing.
A second stealth reconnaissance drone could fly say 2000 feet away from Enemy Base with human eye wavelength and radio band sensing.
A third reconnaissance drone could fly say a few miles away from Enemy Base with active radar probing.