When the Peloran, Roderan, and Shang gave us examples of their gravitic drives, it revolutionized our future in a way that even the improved hyperdrives did not.  True control over gravity, rather than simply beating it into submission with a rocket, gave as a whole new universe of possibilities.  In the short term, we armed some of our warships with them.  In the long term, we tore the other examples apart and learned how to practice a whole new field of science.