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Depending on the type of plane..fighter, bomber, I’ve read that as much as 25-30% of the plane is devoted to the pilot/crew..space, protection, life support systems...eliminate this, and you can substantially increase payload/distance..and of course, the danger tot he crew..

I’ve read that as much as 25-30% of the plane is devoted to the pilot/crew..space, protection, life support systems

It is actually a bigger constraint than that. Humans are a fixed size. So if the plane gets smaller that percentage goes way up. This means in order to make a plane cost effective you have to built it a certain minimum size. Also people are a certain shape which dictates things like a canopy which really increase your frontal area (drag). So lets say you decide you want a nice small plane that carries 1 or 2 bombs and fills the role as a sort of reusable cruise missile. Making a UAV this size and shape is easy and cost effective. Making such a craft into a manned vehicle just does not make sense. So you change your plans and make it bigger. And of course that means you can make fewer of them.