This isn't a competitive game, so it's not pay-to-win
Yeah, that's not how that works. If you're paying for an advantage in performance over players who are not paying, it is pay to win. "Winning" is not a term exclusively reserved for PvP.
The article also doesn't address the presence of nProtect, which is still in place, and is one of the most cited reasons for negative reviews on Steam.
Yeah, I was super psyched about Helldivers 2 but those two items combined with the ridiculous number of crashes on release was enough to make it a hard pass.
It's definitely not pay to win because you can unlock all the gear you want, if you don't know how to use it you won't be winning much. Ironically, it's those who grind for the unlocks that develop the skills needed to win consistently. Therefore in my mind it's Play to Win and the transactional elements are just a side hustle to capitalise on those who like to spend money rather than develop skill.