Europe will develop a sovereign main battle tank (MBT) through a German joint venture (JV) between KNDS and Rheinmetall to strengthen the continent’s technological autonomy.
Although German-led, the Main Armoured Tank of Europe (MARTE), as the consortium is known, not to be confused with MBDA’s MARTE family of missiles, will make use of knowledge and components from companies, start-ups, and research institutes across Europe.
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The European Commission has allocated €20.2m ($23.7m) to support the studies and design of MARTE for the next two years until 2027.
This initiative has strong support among 11 ministries of defence as potential future customers: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.
In its role as coordinator, MARTE ARGE GbR – as the JV is known – manages the project with support of the consulting company Erdyn and a core team of five large defence companies: KNDS Deutschland, Rheinmetall (both Germany), Leonardo (Italy), Indra (Spain) and Saab (Sweden).
Building on their pertinent knowledge and experience in the field of MBTs, each of company will manage one of five technical ‘work packages’ alongside additional participating organisations contributing with their relevant technical knowledge.
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By GlobalDataThe consortium is composed of 51 legal entities from 12 European countries.
Strategic autonomy
European defence competitiveness has waned in the lead up to the full-scale Russia-Ukraine war. There are now efforts to rebuild the continent’s defence and technology industrial base.
In 2024, the European Union (EU) issued a defence industrial strategy for the first time, in which the Commission set goals to boost intra-EU defence trade by at least 35% in 2030, and to procure at least 50% of their defence procurement budget within the EU by 2030 (and 60% by 2035).
Some recent policies will enable this boost, including the €150bn in loans through the Security Action for Europe regulation as well as the activation of the national escape clause.
Industry is making the transition too, with the chief executive of Europe’s leading complex weapons builder MBDA suggesting the group will deliver fully sovereign systems when required. This will prove difficult, however, as key European weapon systems such as the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile still use some US-made components.
The pressure is on as the United States has distanced itself from Europe, prompting the continent to take on more responsibility in Nato. This was lately demonstrated by US President Donald Trump’s push to bring European defence spending to 5% of GDP.
For decades, American platforms have saturated the European market and this has only increased as the Russian threat perception has taken hold on Europe.
This is particularly the case for countries cross the Eastern Flank, such as Poland, which is awaiting orders for Abrams tanks, F-35As, and Apache helicopters. Poland is also buying South Korean systems such as the K9 howitzer, K2 tanks, and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers among others.
