eDGE Group has completed the first live-fire test of a UAE-designed 155mm artillery round, marking an early milestone in a programme to establish domestic ammunition production and qualification.
Lahab, EDGE Group’s medium- to large-calibre ammunition manufacturer, conducted the dynamic firing test as part of Hazeem, a programme intended to develop an entirely UAE-made range of artillery ammunition. The company said the projectile was designed and produced in the UAE.
EDGE reported that all rounds fired from a 52-calibre barrel followed their predicted trajectories and landed within the target area. It also described the grouping as consistent and the dispersion as tight. These are findings from an initial trial, not evidence that the ammunition has completed qualification or been cleared for operational service.
The test assessed whether the projectile was compatible with weapons built to the Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding standard. It also compared predicted and measured chamber pressures and impact points, and examined the structural integrity of projectile components. EDGE said the test met each of its stated objectives
“This first firing confirms that chamber pressures, projectile performance and component integrity all met our expectations,” Saif Al Dahbashi, president of EDGE’s Missiles & Weapons division, said in the company’s statement. He described the firing as a transition from design work to demonstrated performance.
The next phase will involve arena testing to assess the projectile’s effectiveness, followed by qualification against Military Standard requirements and NATO Standardisation Agreement 4224. EDGE said qualification would be a further milestone toward demonstrating Safety and Suitability for Service. The company has not announced a timeline for completing those stages.
The round is an Extended Range Full Bore (ERFB) projectile and includes a deep intrusion fuse well, according to EDGE. The test report did not provide a specific range figure, disclose the ammunition’s intended customers, or state when production might begin. The central result so far is that the design passed its first dynamic firing trial on the company’s stated measures.
Hazeem is presented by EDGE as a sovereign-capability effort: the programme aims to have ammunition designed, manufactured and sustained domestically. The company says this would give the UAE and its customers more assured access to large-calibre ammunition. Al Dahbashi framed local production as a way to reduce dependence on external supply queues, though the test itself does not establish future output volumes or supply arrangements.
The trial matters because a successful first firing is only one stage in turning a design into a service-ready product. Reliability, performance and safety must still be assessed through further testing and formal qualification. EDGE’s announcement makes clear that arena testing and standards-based qualification remain ahead; it does not say that the projectile is ready for deployment.
The development also fits EDGE’s wider effort to build UAE-based defence manufacturing and technology capacity. Launched in 2019, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered group consolidates multiple companies across defence and related sectors, including missiles and weapons, platforms, sensing and secure systems. The Hazeem programme extends that industrial strategy into artillery ammunition, a segment where sustained production capability can be as important as a successful prototype.
For now, the test offers an initial technical checkpoint rather than a finished procurement outcome. The next public indicators will be progress in arena testing, completion of qualification, and any announcement of service acceptance or production. Until those steps are achieved, EDGE’s 155mm ERFB round remains a developing system, with its first live-fire result providing the basis for further evaluation.
