I am attempting to commit espionage spy op on several opponents with 300K + tech points and no spies, yet I am yielding 0 tech points from these missions... am I missing something? what am I doing wrong?

You must own tech to steal tech. More specifically., you must own exactly the same type of tech that you're trying to steal.

If they have 300k, the most you'll steal is 900 tech per spy op; but, to achieve the max you'd be required to own tech in each type that they own.

oh i get it now. thank you for the clarification

I have another question, does spy tech factor in to defend against an opponents spy ops? Or is it just SPAL?

Answer: Yes.

This is the equation for EXPRESS:
SPAL = (( # of spies * spy tech) / land )

go blind just roulette a number put in 10 ops and go!