Defence Finance Monitor Digest #111
Defence Finance Monitor applies a systematic 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.
EDTs & Dual-Use Technologies
Hypersonic Interception: Europe’s Strategic Response to High-Velocity Threats
This report sits at the intersection of three hard constraints: the hypersonic threat, Europe’s competing interceptor programmes (HYDEF and HYDIS), and the new SAFE financing framework.
It maps the real Tier-2 and Tier-3 chokepoints — propulsion, high-resolution IR sensing, and integration dependencies — that determine whether Europe can field a credible interception architecture.
It explains how these constraints translate into programme timelines, industrial leverage points, and procurement priorities across NATO/EU planning.
It identifies the regulatory and funding triggers most likely to shape capital allocation and defence valuations through the 2035 horizon.
European Security & Defence Industry
Sustaining European Combat Power: MRO and Logistics Chokepoints in High-Intensity Warfare
European combat power will not be decided by the number of weapon systems and platforms alone, but also by the ability to sustain them under attrition: MRO capacity, spare-parts flow, and forward repair throughput.
This report maps NATO’s sustainment chokepoints across depots, propulsion, and electronics repair, where Tier-2 and Tier-3 constraints set the real ceiling on operational tempo.
It identifies the specialist actors and dependencies that determine whether forces remain available, or quietly degrade through maintenance backlog and logistics friction.
It links these vulnerabilities to the ongoing policy pivot toward logistics resilience, military mobility, and industrial readiness as core enablers of deterrence.
Critical Infrastructure & Corporate Readiness
Mapping Europe’s CRMA Strategic Projects as the New Bedrock of 2030 Defence Readiness
In 2025, European industrial policy is shifting from market-led sourcing to a security-driven model, with the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) as a core instrument. Through 60 designated “Strategic Projects”, the EU is attempting to reduce structural exposure to concentrated, non-allied processing and supply—most notably in rare earths, gallium, and magnesium.
By accelerating extraction and refining capacity across multiple jurisdictions, the EU is effectively treating mineral supply chains as part of its deterrence infrastructure. This report examines how EIB-backed financing, streamlined permitting, and friend-shoring are being aligned to secure the inputs required for propulsion, radar and sensor systems, and conventional munitions—and how this shapes Europe’s realistic readiness trajectory to 2030.
Without a structured map of the linkages between doctrine, budget and capacity, strategy remains abstract, capital remains misallocated, and industrial readiness remains reactive rather than deliberate.