On 12 February 2026, hours before the 62nd Munich Security Conference opened its doors, 225 defence decision-makers gathered in Munich for a single afternoon. No keynote theatre. No expo hall. Just 1,500 pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings, two closed-door roundtables, and a room full of people authorised to sign procurement contracts.

SPARTA is Europe's number one defence innovation summit, organised by Deep Tech Momentum and TUM Venture Labs, with McKinsey as strategic partner. It is designed for one purpose: connecting defence deep tech startups with the government buyers, primes, and agencies that can deploy their technology.

The format is invitation-only. The participant list is curated. And the results are measured in contracts, not conversations.

SPARTA is not a side event in the usual sense. It is the MSC's most concentrated procurement-focused programme for defence technology, running as part of the broader Munich Security Conference ecosystem alongside the MSC Startup Hub and a roster of ministerial dinners and closed briefings.

Why Defence Innovation Summits Are Reshaping European Security

Europe's defence posture shifted permanently after February 2022. Defence budgets across NATO member states have surged toward and beyond the 2% GDP target. Germany alone committed EUR 100 billion in special defence funding. But spending is only half the problem. The bottleneck is procurement speed.

Traditional defence procurement cycles run 7 to 15 years from requirement definition to deployment. In a threat environment shaped by autonomous drones, electronic warfare, and AI-enabled intelligence, that timeline is a strategic liability. Defence innovation summits like SPARTA exist to compress it.

The core insight is structural. Europe's defence industrial base is dominated by a small number of Tier 1 primes: Rheinmetall, MBDA, BAE Systems, Leonardo, Thales. These companies build proven platforms, but they cannot incubate every emerging capability internally. Meanwhile, hundreds of European deep tech startups have developed dual-use technologies, from counter-drone systems to quantum-secured communications, that meet real operational needs. The gap is access. Startups cannot navigate the procurement labyrinth alone. Primes cannot scout every lab in every country.

SPARTA closes that gap in a single afternoon. The model works because it is curated, not open. Every participant is screened. Every meeting is pre-matched to a real capability need. The result is procurement velocity that the traditional exhibition circuit simply cannot deliver.

What Happened at SPARTA 2026: Format and Programme

SPARTA 2026 ran on 12 February from 13:30 to 17:00. The participant mix was deliberately balanced:

• 100 startups and scaleups with defence-relevant deep tech

• 50 primes and SMEs with active capability mandates

• 50 public and military decision-makers from armed forces, procurement agencies, and ministries of defence

• 25 investment funds allocating to European defence technology

The afternoon opened with addresses from Martin Schilling (CEO, Deep Tech Momentum), Philipp Gerbert (CEO, TUM Venture Labs), and Ben Wallace, former UK Secretary of State for Defence and one of the longest-serving defence ministers in modern British history. Destinus and McKinsey delivered keynotes.

Two closed-door roundtables followed:

• Protecting the High North, addressing Arctic and northern European defence challenges

• Defending Europe Against Mass Autonomous Threats Across Air, Sea, and Land, tackling the proliferation of low-cost autonomous attack systems

Both roundtables were facilitated by Lieutenant General Sir Tom Copinger-Symes, former Deputy Commander of Cyber and Specialist Operations Command, and David Chinn, Senior Partner at McKinsey and co-leader of the firm's European Defence Mission.

The core of SPARTA, however, is not the stage programme. It is the matchmaking. AI-powered algorithms matched participants based on capability needs and technology profiles, producing 1,500 pre-scheduled, 15-minute, double opt-in meetings in a single afternoon. Every meeting was aligned with concrete capability gaps, mission requirements, and partnership readiness.

Technologies at SPARTA

The technology scope covers the full spectrum of next-generation defence capability. At SPARTA 2026, participants engaged across 11 technology domains:

• Counter-UAS: detection, tracking, and neutralisation systems for unmanned aerial threats

• ISR: drones, satellites, sensors, and analytics for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance

• Cyber and electronic warfare: offensive and defensive capabilities across the electromagnetic spectrum

• Space systems and counter-space: satellite constellations, ground systems, and orbital defence

• Maritime and underwater robotics: autonomous surface and subsea platforms

• Deep and precision strike: long-range engagement systems with enhanced accuracy

• Command and control infrastructure: decision support, network architecture, and battlespace management

• Secure communications: quantum-safe encryption and sovereign communication networks

• Autonomous ground and logistics robotics: unmanned ground vehicles for supply, patrol, and reconnaissance

• Training, simulation, and digital twins: synthetic environments for force preparation and scenario planning

• Demining, rescue, and protection: humanitarian and force protection technologies

Who Attends SPARTA

SPARTA is not open registration. Every participant is vetted and invited based on their role in the defence procurement chain.

Procurement agencies and ministries of defence attend to detect emerging defence technology trends, evaluate new capabilities across fragmented markets, and align procurement decisions with future threats and force requirements.

Defence primes send CEOs, CTOs, and innovation heads to discover validated DefTech early enough to secure long-term competitiveness, identify SMEs and startups with mission-ready technologies, and expand production capabilities through partnerships.

NATO and EU Directorate-Generals use SPARTA to access market-ready innovations that support alignment across allied capability frameworks and strengthen multinational planning. Members of the European Parliament from the SEDE and BUDG committees attend to ground funding and policy decisions in direct exposure to the next generation of European DefTech.

Startups and scaleups gain something that is nearly impossible to achieve independently: direct, decision-maker-level engagement with primes, armed forces, and procurement officials in a single afternoon. Every meeting is matched to current capability needs and mission priorities.

For deep tech companies building technologies with dual-use applications, from autonomous systems to advanced materials for armour and sensors, SPARTA provides a fast-track route to validation, pilots, and adoption in Europe's defence ecosystem.

How SPARTA Connects to DTM26

SPARTA is one half of a year-round defence procurement pipeline. The other half is DTM26, Europe's number one deep tech and AI innovation marketplace, taking place on 20 to 21 May 2026 at Wilhelm Studios in Berlin.

At DTM26, defence is one of seven market verticals running across two days, alongside energy, manufacturing and robotics, space, high-performance computing, advanced materials, and enterprise AI. The Signals from the Frontline programme translates NATO frontline operational needs into capability signals for deep tech companies. Defence Guardians from Rheinmetall, MBDA, BAE Systems Bofors, RENK Group, and the Italian and Swedish armed forces participate in curated one-to-one meetings with startups through the Guardian Connect Program.

The cross-vertical structure is deliberate. Defence does not exist in isolation. Counter-drone systems require advanced materials for lightweight airframes. Space-based ISR feeds into command and control infrastructure. Quantum computing secures military communications. DTM26 is where those cross-pollination conversations happen at scale, with 3,000+ attendees and 800+ corporate buyers across all seven verticals.

For startups that participated in SPARTA in February, DTM26 in May is the natural next step: broader exposure, cross-vertical meetings, and access to the DTM100 pitch competition that selects Europe's top 100 deep tech founders across all seven markets.

SPARTA participants also receive priority access to DTM26 tickets with code SPARTA20.

Secure your DTM26 ticket to continue the conversations that started at SPARTA.