Defence Finance Monitor Digest #91
Defence Finance Monitor is designed to help professionals interpret how NATO, EU and allied strategic priorities are reshaping capability development, industrial policy and technological pathways. Each edition clarifies the structural shifts—rather than the daily news—that redefine institutional demand, procurement choices and the strategic relevance of companies across the defence and dual-use ecosystem.
The goal is to provide a stable, decision-oriented framework for recognising which capabilities are becoming priorities, which technologies are gaining structural weight, and which enterprises align with the long-term strategic requirements of liberal democracies. Every briefing builds on this framework, enabling readers to understand the trajectory of the system and to anchor decisions in institutional signals and enduring industrial dynamics.
For a limited time, annual subscriptions to Defence Finance Monitor are available with a 30% discount on the standard price. Upgrading now provides full access to our structured company database, in-depth reports and daily monitoring across the defence–finance landscape.
Special Report
Structural Bottlenecks in Europe’s Quest for Strategic Autonomy
A Comprehensive Technological and Industrial Mapping
Europe’s rearmament is now defined less by procurement targets and more by the bottlenecks that determine what can actually be produced, when, and at what scale. Across the continent, pressures on explosive materials, propellants, missile components, microelectronics and specialised manufacturing capacity have revealed how thin the industrial base has become after decades of contraction. These constraints have practical implications for timelines, output levels and the broader debate on readiness and autonomy. The war in Ukraine has accelerated trends that were already emerging: strategic intent is increasingly conditioned by the most fragile segments of the supply chain. As demand surges, long-neglected segments—from energetics to advanced subsystems—struggle to expand quickly enough to meet operational needs. These bottlenecks affect governments seeking to rebuild stockpiles, companies trying to scale production and investors assessing where capabilities can realistically grow. A clear understanding of where the pressure points lie, why they persist and how they interact is now important for those working in defence, industry or policy. This report examines how Europe’s security environment is increasingly shaped by these constraints and why resolving them will be central to any credible long-term rearmament effort. The full analysis is available exclusively to subscribers.
European Security & Defence Industry
Strategic Co-Production as Europe’s Response to Industrial Capacity Pressure
The European defence industry is undergoing a substantive reconfiguration, driven by mounting pressure on production capacity and by the structural gaps revealed during the war in Ukraine. This report offers a clear and up-to-date assessment of how Europe is responding, adopting more advanced forms of strategic co-production to reinforce industrial autonomy and the security of supply. Covering ammunition and propellants, naval and land systems, sensors, avionics and the broader network of critical inputs, the document reconstructs with precision the institutional and industrial dynamics now reshaping Europe’s military supply chains. The analysis relies exclusively on official sources and high-credibility strategic studies published between 2023 and November 2025, ensuring methodological solidity and operational relevance. For those responsible for investment choices, industrial cooperation or procurement policy, an accurate understanding of these trajectories has become essential. Subscribe now to access the full report and equip yourself with the analytical tools needed to navigate a strategic environment that is changing with unusual speed.
Asian Security & Defence Industry
Indo-Pacific Industrial Partnerships and Their Impact on Europe’s Strategic Resilience
Indo-Pacific partnerships are beginning to shape Europe’s defence landscape in ways that were largely unthinkable only a few years ago. As Asian democracies accelerate their own industrial modernisation, they are also exporting methods of cooperation—co-production, targeted technology transfer, and distributed manufacturing—that are quietly altering how European forces equip themselves and how quickly they can respond to strategic pressure. South Korea, Japan and Australia have each adopted approaches that blend industrial capability with statecraft, offering partners not only advanced systems but also access to the know-how and production models behind them. For European governments facing urgent timelines and constrained industrial depth, these arrangements are becoming more than commercial alternatives: they are contributing to resilience, capacity expansion and supply-chain diversification at a moment when speed and reliability are decisive. This report examines how these Indo-Pacific dynamics are beginning to influence European choices, reshape procurement pathways and redefine the geography of capability generation across allied democracies. Full access to the analysis is reserved for subscribers.
EDTs & Dual-Use Technologies
Military Artificial Intelligence
Strategic Functions, Global Leadership and Europe’s Position in the Defence-AI Ecosystem
Artificial intelligence has moved from experimental add-on to a central determinant of military advantage. Nations are now competing not only in platforms and firepower, but in how quickly and reliably their forces can interpret complex environments, coordinate across domains and act under pressure. What distinguishes defence AI from its civilian counterpart is not sophistication alone, but the demands of contested, adversarial conditions: systems must operate through cyber disruption, electronic interference and incomplete information, delivering insight without eroding human judgment or legal responsibility. Across NATO and allied democracies, this shift is reshaping investment, doctrine and procurement priorities, as governments look to integrate commercial innovation while hardening it for operational use. For professionals who follow the intersection of technology, security and strategy, understanding this transition is becoming essential. It influences capability development, industrial direction and the tempo at which modern militaries can credibly deter and respond. This report examines the forces now driving defence AI forward and the implications for those who must navigate its strategic and operational consequences. Subscribers gain access to the full analysis.
Capital Markets & Investment Flows
Defence Private Credit as an Instrument to Rapidly Close Production Bottlenecks
Europe’s accelerated rearmament has opened a financing landscape that is reshaping the defence-industrial base far more quickly than public budgets can. Private credit is playing an increasingly significant role in this shift, supplying the liquidity that allows factories to expand, inputs to be stockpiled and new production lines to be built at the pace required by current demand. The surge in bond placements for ammunition manufacturers, the rapid execution of unitranche loans for propellant producers and the rise of dedicated defence credit funds illustrate how non-bank capital is now influencing output, timelines and strategic resilience across the sector. For professionals monitoring defence markets, these dynamics determine where capacity consolidates, which suppliers gain momentum and how quickly critical bottlenecks can be addressed. The full analysis provides a clear structure for interpreting these capital flows, the incentives driving them and their implications for readiness, procurement cycles and Europe’s broader autonomy objectives. Upgrading grants immediate access to this framework, offering the level of clarity needed to navigate an environment where financial instruments increasingly shape industrial outcomes.
Subscribers gain access to the full DFM intelligence system: an analytical database structured by strategic categories, with investment-focused assessments, company and sector profiles, and deep evaluations of how technologies, capital flows, and industrial capabilities shape defence readiness and allied autonomy.