Turning Loans into Launchers

The numbers’ game of firepower Turning Loans into Launchers

2026-07-30 From Filipe Martins and Anna Kobylinska/Maria Beyer-Fistrich 10 min Reading Time

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A wave of government-backed lending programs across NATO allies and Ukraine is deliberately converting cheap credit into hard military capacity—missiles, artillery, ammunition, and launcher systems—in an effort to win the numbers´ game of firepower.

“Sometimes FPV pilots are supported by reconnaissance drone teams, but sometimes they operate blindly”, said a Ukrainian FPV pilot known by the callsign “Karat” who was invited to NATO exercises on the Swedish island of Gotland in early 2026. He continued: “Western militaries cannot fully understand what that is like. You have to see it with your own eyes.” (Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine) — “Sometimes FPV pilots are supported by reconnaissance drone teams, but sometimes they operate blindly”, said a Ukrainian FPV pilot known by the callsign “Karat” who was invited to NATO exercises on the Swedish island of Gotland in early 2026. He continued: “Western militaries cannot fully understand what that is like. You have to see it with your own eyes.”
(Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine)

In Aurora 2026, Ukrainian guardsmen used FPV (First Person View) drones and reconnaissance UAVs as an opposing force, “eliminating” Swedish troops in simulated high‑intensity drone warfare, according to Ukrainian and Swedish military sources.

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