Spider Suit research costs 50 supplies, 5 alloys, 2 crystals. Building a new Spider Suit costs 70 supplies, 5 alloys, 1 crystal. It doesn't really make logical sense for the first prototype to be cheaper (unless it's lore-wise like the first SPARK's situation, but it isn't really implied to be).
For comparison, there's a similar reversal for Wraith Suit, but not medium armors.
Spider Suit research costs 50 supplies, 5 alloys, 2 crystals. Building a new Spider Suit costs 70 supplies, 5 alloys, 1 crystal. It doesn't really make logical sense for the first prototype to be cheaper (unless it's lore-wise like the first SPARK's situation, but it isn't really implied to be).
For comparison, there's a similar reversal for Wraith Suit, but not medium armors.
These are both defined in
XComLW_Overhaul.ini
: