The U.S. Army, in partnership with AMTEC Corporation, has inaugurated a new 40mm grenade production line and an indoor testing range at AMTEC’s facility in Janesville, Wisconsin, marking a key milestone in the service’s broader drive to expand and modernize domestic munitions manufacturing capacity.
The site features a 72,000-square-foot manufacturing complex that houses a new production line for the 40mm M918E2 High Velocity Target Practice cartridge, along with a 200-meter indoor test range. The Army invested approximately $21 million to establish the production line, which introduces a higher level of automation to replace labor-intensive processes, enabling greater output, improved consistency, and enhanced production reliability.
The M918E2 round is a 40mm high-velocity training cartridge designed for use with systems such as the MK19 automatic grenade launcher and the M203 and M320 grenade launchers. Unlike legacy training ammunition, it is engineered to eliminate unexploded duds, reducing long-term safety risks on training ranges. The cartridge also produces visible impact signatures detectable in daylight, low-light, and thermal conditions, supporting more realistic live-fire training environments and the Army’s “train as you fight” doctrine.
The new on-site indoor test range is intended to streamline testing and quality assurance activities, replacing reliance on off-site law enforcement ranges that required additional coordination and security arrangements. The Janesville project reflects the Army’s growing emphasis on strengthening munitions production capacity, driven by rising global demand, sustained support to allies, and concerns over the resilience of the U.S. defense industrial base. Since 2022, the Army has invested billions of dollars in new facilities, production lines, and equipment upgrades, with the Janesville site now joining more than 10 new or modernized munitions-related facilities brought online under this effort.
