Focus on r&d and quality culture.
Gora sahib started with rudimentary plane ( by today's standard) and continuously refined his plane ,then he refined his engines, then flight control software then composites ( not in that order of course).
Each of these is a a different field altogether, material science, jet engine technology, coatings, software, metallurgy, software.
He is at this stage because in each sub category he did r&d , private ,public, govt , University, individuals everyone contributed.
Advances in other fields also helped him because a tank ship or plane can't be designed developed when the basic science is not mastered , that's why for critical technology we still have to collaborate with Western powers e.g recent jet engine deal and usa was ready for that deal because even though it's not State of the art ( old generation) but still it's cutting edge enough and he knows we will reach there without help by the next decade.