Defence Finance Monitor Digest #101
Defence Finance Monitor applies a clear top–down approach. We start from the strategic, operational and tactical priorities as they are stated in the official documents of NATO, the EU and the governments of liberal democracies, and we track how these priorities are translated into funding lines, programmes and procurement plans, and then into demand for specific technologies, industrial segments and companies. In practice, we use these doctrines as a lens to identify which capability areas, technologies, companies and lines of research are being “lit up” as strategically relevant, and we map how this relevance materialises in concrete procurement, financing and industrial capacity, highlighting the assets that sit where strategy, budgets and capital effectively converge.
Our working assumption is simple: what is structurally relevant for NATO and EU strategy tends, over time, to become relevant also from a financial and industrial point of view.
On this basis, DFM functions as a decision-support tool, not as a conventional editorial product. For investors, it benchmarks deal flow against institutional priorities and highlights companies and technologies that solve concrete NATO/EU operational problems, rather than chasing thematic narratives. For entrepreneurs, primes and industrial managers, it shows which capabilities are moving to the top of the spending agenda, how to align R&D and product plans, and which funding instruments and partners are realistically available. For public decision-makers, it translates strategic goals into a structured picture of industrial capacity, innovation pipelines and supply-chain vulnerabilities. For universities and research centres, it shows where their scientific directions match urgent requirements and private capital, helping them position projects for both funding eligibility and effective real-world application.
In short, we translate strategic doctrine into an investable context, turning NATO/EU priorities into a usable map of technologies, companies and research lines that matter. DFM offers a common frame of reference so that each actor can read the same system from their own angle and act before decisions are forced by events.
Non-Kinetic Counter-UAS with High Power Microwave: Technology, Actors and European Strategic Autonomy
This report explains why high-power microwave systems are becoming central to counter-drone defence and why the subject now matters well beyond specialist circles. As low-cost drones grow in number and sophistication, traditional interceptors struggle to keep pace in both cost and capacity; microwave systems offer a different approach, disabling multiple drones at once by targeting their electronics. The analysis introduces the basic principles in clear language, showing how energy pulses, antennas and tracking systems work together and what limits current designs. It then maps the companies involved — from component suppliers to full-system integrators — to clarify who is actually building these technologies and how mature they are. Readers will find an accessible discussion of size, weight and power constraints, cost drivers, and the practical factors that determine when and where these systems can be deployed. Comparative tables provide structured insight into industrial actors, technology options, financial considerations, supply-chain risks and the development outlook to 2030. The report is intended to help non-experts understand why this field is accelerating and how it will shape future defence planning and investment.
Alternative PNT & GNSS-Denied Navigation: Technology Landscape & European Strategic Autonomy
This report introduces the technologies that ensure positioning, navigation and timing when GPS or Galileo are degraded or denied — a growing challenge for defence, autonomous systems and critical infrastructure. It explains, in clear terms, how vision-based navigation, inertial systems, quantum sensors, signals of opportunity, geomagnetic methods and resilient timing architectures provide alternatives to satellite guidance, and why these capabilities are becoming essential as jamming and spoofing intensify. The analysis maps the European industrial base, assesses maturity levels and identifies where operational deployments already exist. It also highlights structural gaps, outlines the risks associated with reliance on GNSS, and clarifies how A-PNT aligns with NATO and EU capability priorities. Downloadable annexes provide database-ready tables on regulation, infrastructure, funding instruments, compliance standards and key industry actors.
ETNA and Danish Pension Funds: A New Signal in Europe’s Defence Capital Markets
For decades, European pension funds tended to treat defence in a manner similar to tobacco: a sector formally investable in legal terms, but effectively excluded on ethical and ESG grounds. Self-imposed bans, negative screening and strict responsible-investment charters kept most institutional long-term capital away from defence manufacturers and related supply chains, even as national governments continued to procure weapons systems. This framework is now being revised at speed: leading asset managers and pension funds across Europe are reassessing exclusions in light of the war in Ukraine, NATO rearmament and the European Union’s push to mobilise around €800 billion for defence by 2030, with ESG-focused funds slowly increasing their exposure to defence stocks.
Defence Finande Monitor provides a coherent map of how strategic intent becomes budgetary allocation, and how budgetary allocation becomes industrial relevance. Without such a map, the linkages that guide capability development, public funding flows and the areas where private capital can position itself with clarity remain difficult to see in their full structure.