EU-funded MARTE main battle tank project enters design phase
The Main ARmoured Tank of Europe (MARTE) consortium has reached a “midterm milestone” in the development of Europe’s future main battle tank (MBT), following the European Commission’s formal approval of key deliverables.
This milestone comes more than one year after the project’s official launch in December 2024, supported by a grant of approximately €20m ($23m) from the European Defence Fund (EDF).
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Find out more
MARTE seeks to examine and develop a new MBT to address current and future operational requirements, incorporating a range of advanced technologies.
Coordinated and led by MARTE ARGE, a joint venture between KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall Landsysteme, the consortium has completed various technical work packages as part of efforts to design a future MBT platform.
Submitted deliverables include a comprehensive Concept of Operations and a consolidated set of requirements, both intended to guide the ongoing development process.
Led by Germany, 11 EU member states including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, and Sweden, are participating in the project.
The consortium engaged closely with the respective Ministries of Defence to ensure that operational requirements reflect lessons learnt from recent conflicts and align with national needs.
Sweden’s SAAB led collaboration on the requirements baseline, while Spain’s Indra Sistemas conducted a market survey assessing technology availability and readiness within the European defence sector.
Leonardo is also among the core partners guiding technical and strategic aspects of the programme.
With all initial deliverables now approved by the European Commission, the MARTE project will proceed to its next phase focusing on system design and architecture activities.
KNDS Deutschland, Rheinmetall Landsysteme, and Leonardo will lead this stage.
A General Assembly was held in November 2025 in San Sebastián, Spain, bringing together consortium members and stakeholders to review progress and discuss the roadmap towards achieving Preliminary Design Review maturity within 24 months.
KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall stated: “The achievements reached to date, the strong industrial collaboration across Europe, and the continued active engagement of the participating Ministries of Defence collectively position MARTE as a decisive strategic investment in Europe’s technological sovereignty and defence innovation.”
