EDGE Group has reached full-rate production on an automated 40mm (40x53mm) grenade ammunition line at LAHAB, its medium- to large-calibre ammunition manufacturer, the Abu Dhabi-based group announced on October 22, 2026. The line entered operation at the end of 2025, can produce up to 1.5 million rounds a year, and assembles sub-components from start to finish without manual intervention.
The milestone lands as ammunition throughput has become a central measure of industrial readiness. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exposed the depth of Western stockpile shortfalls, the United States and several European governments have funded new artillery and medium-calibre capacity. EDGE, formed in 2019 to consolidate the United Arab Emirates’ defense manufacturing, is pursuing the same objective through automation rather than headcount.
Inside LAHAB’s Automated 40mm Ammunition Production Line
The line is organized into three modules. The first handles cartridge case assembly and filling, the second projectile filling and assembly, and the third final assembly and belting of complete rounds. The belting stage carries operational weight: automatic grenade launchers are belt-fed, and a line that outputs linked rounds delivers ammunition closer to a ready-to-issue state.
LAHAB Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Arbabi said the company had implemented advanced automation across complex manufacturing processes, “reducing manual labour requirements by nearly 60%.” He added that the shift establishes “a stronger foundation for scalable and advanced manufacturing of 40mm grenades.”
Built to Industry 4.0 standards, the line monitors operations as they run, records production data across all three modules, and feeds a real-time dashboard. Throughput, module performance, and production status are visible during the shift rather than reconstructed after it, so operators can identify and correct deviations while the line keeps running. In energetic-materials work, where one filling defect can compromise a lot, in-process detection carries direct safety value.
EDGE did not disclose which 40x53mm natures the line produces, the qualification standards applied, or its end customers. Publicly available specifications indicate that 40x53mm high-velocity grenades are fired from automatic launchers such as the Mk 19 and the Heckler & Koch GMG, with muzzle velocities of roughly 240 meters per second and maximum ranges above 2,000 meters. EDGE has not confirmed compatibility with any specific launcher.
How EDGE Is Automating Production at HALCON and CARACAL
The 40mm line is the latest project in a broader transformation drive. In 2025 alone, EDGE delivered more than 68 Industry 4.0 projects across 28 production facilities and doubled production capacity at 13 entities, according to the company.
At HALCON, EDGE’s smart weapons producer, an automated assembly line for the DESERT STING 16 guided-glide weapon combines 11 industrial robots, more than 300 sensors, six machine vision stations, and automated material handling and inspection. The company says the line raised production volume by 130% while cutting labor content by 23%. At CARACAL, which produces firearms and small-calibre ammunition, an automated storage and retrieval system increased storage density by around 80% and made storage and retrieval operations three times faster, removing the need for an additional warehouse.
The effort is run by BRIDGE, EDGE’s function for innovation, operational excellence, and industrialization, with further projects underway.
Analysis: The metrics EDGE chose to publish measure labor, floor space, and capacity, not stockpiles delivered, and that choice reveals the model. The UAE draws on a small national workforce, so automation is the practical route to volume and to sovereign control over munitions supply. A 1.5 million-round annual ceiling is substantial capacity for a single 40mm line.
Key questions remain open: actual delivered volumes against the 1.5 million-round ceiling, the product mix, export customers, and whether the line will be certified to NATO standards, an approach LAHAB already pursued for small-calibre testing under a 2024 agreement with Jordan’s Design and Development Bureau. The next IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 2027, is the likeliest venue for EDGE to name customers or announce the next automated line.