A European consortium of military contractors and research organizations will undertake Project MARTE, short for Main ARmoured Tank of Europe. Rheinmetall said Tuesday that the project was launched to boost the technological autonomy of the allied armed forces’ main battle tank, or MBT, system in the region.
MARTE ARGE, a joint venture between German defense contractors Rheinmetall Landsysteme and KNDS Deutschland, is coordinating the project.
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MARTE has support from the defense ministries of 11 European countries: Germany, Belgium, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Sweden. Its plan has been submitted to the European Commission, which has awarded the project a grant of approximately $23.5 million from the European Defence Fund.
The consortium comprises 51 entities that have committed to contributing their expertise and experience in MARTE’s study and design initiatives for developing a future MBT system suited to European needs.
The consulting company Erdyn is supporting MARTE ARGE in coordinating the project and the efforts of its core team, which is composed of KNDS, Rheinmetall, Leonardo, Indra Sistemas and Saab.
Under a separate initiative, Leonardo and the KNDS Group signed an agreement in December 2023 to collaborate on the Italian MBT program.