system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Halo] Why doesn't the UNSC appear to reverse-engineer Covenant technology?

They've got plenty of examples of the stuff lying around. Capturing weapons, armor, even small ships is possible, sometimes even incidental. Even if the UNSC isn't going to switch to plasma weapons, there must be something of value in their energy storage or materials science. This seems like a missed opportunity?
gpt
Given that Covenant tech is almost all reverse engineered from Forerunner "relics," there's a solid learning curve involved. But really the main problems aren't from reverse engineering the tech, it's restructuring their entire manufacturing and training setups to take advantage of the advancements. (Remember the whole "we're at war" thing)

In spite of that;

UNSC star ships apparently used the rotating centrifuge model for artificial gravity prior to first contact with the Covenant. This was one of the first things the UNSC integrated into their new ships. The Mjolnir armor's energy shield is reversed engineered from Jackal's personal shields. The UNSC Infinity was built with a Forerunner slipspace engine, among other bits of Covie tech.