Defense Industry
EDGE’s automated 40 mm ammunition line enters full production, with capacity for 1.5 million rounds a year in the UAE
An automated production line for 40x53 mm rounds at LAHAB, part of the UAE’s EDGE Group, has entered full-rate production and can turn out up to 1.5 million rounds a year, with manual labour cut by almost 60 percent.
The automated production line for 40×53 mm rounds at LAHAB, a company of the UAE’s EDGE Group, has entered full-rate production, according to Defence Industry Europe. It can now turn out up to 1.5 million rounds a year, while the group says the facility cut manual labour needs by almost 60 percent.
The line has operated since late 2025. It receives the individual components and produces finished rounds on belt without human intervention. The work is divided between three units: the first assembles and fills the cartridge cases, the second fills and assembles the projectiles and the third does the final assembly and belting.
“As part of our journey toward Industry 4.0, we implemented advanced automation in complex production processes and cut manual labour needs by almost 60 percent,” said LAHAB CEO Mohamed Arbabi. “This allows greater annual output, better efficiency and less dependence on manual labour.” Data from the three units feeds a real-time monitoring dashboard showing production flow, each unit’s performance and line status. Operators spot deviations and correct them while the line runs, without waiting for end-of-shift data.
Automation across the group
EDGE says that in 2025 it completed more than 68 Industry 4.0 projects across 28 production sites and doubled capacity in 13 of its companies. At HALCON, which makes smart weapons, automating assembly of the DESERT STING 16 guided glide weapon raised output by 130 percent and cut labour by 23 percent. The line uses 11 industrial robots, more than 300 sensors and six machine vision stations. The projects are supported by BRIDGE, the group’s unit for innovation, operational excellence and industrialisation, with more to follow across the group’s production network. CARACAL, which makes small arms and small-calibre ammunition, installed an automated storage and retrieval system. Storage density rose by about 80 percent and tasks became three times faster, so no new warehouse was needed.
Weapons from the EDGE group have previously been examined as options for the Greek fighters, while the increase in ammunition production concerns many countries.
