^The Elites WERE smart. The achieved space flight by themselves. But that knowledge was lost to the majority of the population over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of generations. The Elites who were in contact with the most advanced technology were the males, and all they wanted to do was fight. The Prophets took care of all the science research. The majority of Elites didn't bother to actually learn how their tech worked, much like how the majority of humans today have no idea how their smart phones actually work. In essence the Elites became users, not creators. So after all that time of being a user, and then suddenly having a limited supply of tech, things will be tough to run. They don't really know how to make more ships, weapons, etc so they are focused on keeping what they have in tip top condition until they actually know how to build what they need. There may be some Elites who know a bit, but I'd assume it isn't enough.