Slow burn. Very slow. Exchange technology for something intangible, it's okay to exchange tech with the government, but it has to be for something tangible.
It's the early 2000s, and he's jumped from engines to drones to space shuttles. That is a very big logical loophole. I personally can't get by based on the "modern" setting the author has written.
It feels like the author just picked 10 different genres and mixed them together when writing this novel. Too many things are happening, and it gets distracting and confusing.