MARTE, short for Main ARmoured Tank of Europe, brings together 11 European Union member states under a coordinated development effort led by Germany. Participating countries include Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
The programme is managed by MARTE ARGE GbR, a joint venture between KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. The consortium also includes Leonardo, Indra Sistemas and Saab, forming the project’s core industrial team.
One year after its launch in December 2024, the consortium reported significant progress across technical, organisational and strategic areas. Several technical work packages have been completed and key deliverables have been submitted to the European Commission on schedule.
According to Rheinmetall, the project has produced a comprehensive Concept of Operations and a full set of requirements for the future tank system. These were developed in close cooperation with participating Ministries of Defence to reflect operational needs and lessons from current conflicts.
The consortium has also conducted an extensive market survey of available technologies and subsystems across Europe. This work assessed the readiness and performance of potential components for integration into the future platform.
All submitted deliverables have been formally approved by the European Commission, allowing the project to move into its next phase. This stage will focus on system design and architecture for the main battle tank and its subsystems.
Key industrial partners, including KNDS Deutschland, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Leonardo, will lead the design phase. The programme aims to reach Preliminary Design Review maturity within 24 months.
A General Assembly held in November 2025 in San Sebastián brought together consortium members and stakeholders to review progress. The meeting confirmed alignment on the development roadmap and next steps.
Rheinmetall said the project represents a major step forward in multinational defence cooperation. It added that MARTE is positioned as a strategic investment in Europe’s defence capabilities and technological sovereignty.
