West Bengal clears DRDO missile testing range at Junput to support Chandipur trials

In September 2026, the West Bengal state government formally cleared administrative steps to facilitate the establishment of a new weapon and missile testing range by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Junput, located in the coastal Purba Medinipur district. Occupying an 8.73-acre site along the Bay of Bengal near Digha, approximately 177 kilometres from Kolkata, the facility is designed to serve as DRDO's third major coastal testing hub in eastern India, complementing existing missile evaluation infrastructure in the region.

The project was initially proposed by DRDO in April 2024 to expand national missile testing capacity and address growing range congestion. While the initiative faced initial administrative delays and local operational concerns regarding coastal maritime access for local fishing communities, recent official statements have confirmed that key state clearances are now in place. The clearance enables DRDO to proceed with civil engineering work, radar installation, and ground support infrastructure setup along the Purba Medinipur coastline.

Expansion of Coastal Test Infrastructure in West Bengal

The selection of Junput as a dedicated testing facility reflects strategic geographic advantages. Situated along a relatively flat and open shoreline with an unobstructed eastward trajectory over the Bay of Bengal, the location provides an ideal corridor for tracking weapon systems, conducting radar calibration trials, and executing controlled flight tests. The 8.73-acre site will house specialized launch platforms, telemetry tracking stations, optical tracking mounts, and hardened control centers tailored for continuous testing schedules.

By establishing a permanent footprint in West Bengal, DRDO aims to shorten the development cycle for tactical weapon programs. The geographical proximity of Junput to major academic research centers in Kolkata and regional industrial supply chains also provides logistical advantages for moving engineering crews, scientific personnel, and test hardware to and from the site during complex multi-day trial campaigns.

Operational Synergy: De-congesting the Chandipur Test Corridor

For more than four decades, India's primary missile flight testing has been concentrated at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore district, Odisha. The Chandipur facility operates across two main complexes: Launch Complex-III on the mainland and Launch Complex-IV situated off the coast on Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island (formerly Wheeler Island). Historically, this single range infrastructure was tasked with evaluating the complete inventory of Indian missile technology.

Under the ITR umbrella, engineers have conducted development and user trials for short-range tactical platforms such as the Akash surface-to-air missile and Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system, alongside strategic long-range ballistic missiles from the Agni series and submarine-launched weapons from the K-series family. However, the dramatic surge in domestic defence research, driven by the national push for self-reliance and expanded private sector participation, led to operational saturation at Chandipur. Managing flight corridors, issuing maritime drop-zone warnings, clearing airspace, and calibrating instrumentation for diverse missile categories created scheduling bottlenecks that often delayed crucial flight trials.

Located approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Chandipur along the same Bay of Bengal coastline, the Junput facility establishes a complementary dual-hub testing architecture. Under the strategic division of responsibilities, Chandipur will remain focused on strategic long-range missile programs, heavy cruise missile testing, and high-altitude ballistic interceptor trials. In contrast, the Junput range will absorb operational workloads associated with short-range tactical missiles, naval air defence systems, coastal surveillance radars, and electro-optical weapon tracking suites. This operational division rebalances range usage, drastically reduces scheduling wait times, and maximizes the operational availability of both sites.

Technical and Engineering Requirements for Tactical Missile Qualification

Developing an operational missile testing range requires a sophisticated ecosystem of ground support equipment, automated qualification systems, and high-pressure fluid engineering infrastructure. Before any tactical missile is launched over the Bay of Bengal, it must undergo exhaustive pre-flight verification on specialized ground test benches to ensure every onboard subsystem functions within strict parameters.

Tactical missile qualification relies heavily on precision dynamic test rigs and automated checkout systems. Key ground engineering requirements include:

• Actuation and Control Surface Rigs: Missile flight stability depends on fin control actuation systems driven by servo-hydraulic or electromechanical actuators. High-pressure hydraulic test benches supply calibrated hydraulic fluid to verify actuator response rates, frequency performance, and structural stiffness under simulated aerodynamic loading.
• High-Pressure Gas Conditioning Systems: Many short-range guided missiles utilize cold-gas reaction control systems or pneumatic actuators for rapid trajectory corrections during initial boost phase. Dedicated gas charging manifolds and high-pressure pneumatic test rigs are essential for purging, pressure retention testing, and regulated filling of onboard gas pressure vessels.
• Automated Test Equipment (ATE): Pre-launch checkout relies on automated test systems that perform hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations, evaluating guidance computer responsiveness, telemetry signal fidelity, and power distribution stability prior to motor ignition.
• Environmental and Corrosion Resistance: Coastal testing environments subject ground support equipment to harsh salt air, high relative humidity, and broad thermal cycles. All mechanical test benches, hydraulic power packs, and electronic consoles deployed at Junput must strictly conform to defence standards such as JSS-55555 and MIL-STD-810 for environmental durability and corrosion prevention.

Strategic Implications for Indigenous Defence Manufacturing

The operationalization of the Junput testing center arrives at a critical point in India's defence modernization journey. With capital acquisition budgets prioritizing domestic procurement and indigenous content requirements steadily rising, defense public sector undertakings (DPSUs) and private enterprise partners are producing record volumes of guided munitions, tactical rockets, and radar platforms. However, manufacturing capacity cannot translate into deployed operational capability without adequate testing and certification infrastructure.

By establishing parallel coastal testing hubs at Chandipur and Junput, DRDO significantly expands the total annual capacity for flight qualification trials. This expanded bandwidth directly accelerates the development-to-deployment timeline for new weapon systems, enabling defense OEMs to validate engineering iterations rapidly and move from prototype testing to full-scale series production without long infrastructure delays. Furthermore, the dual-hub setup provides redundancy, ensuring that maintenance downtime or localized weather disruptions at one facility do not halt national missile testing programs entirely.

Ultimately, every successful downrange flight trial at sites like Junput relies on the precision and dependability of ground-based qualification hardware. High-integrity hydraulic test rigs, automated test equipment, and high-pressure gas distribution infrastructure form the foundation of missile reliability before flight. Neometrix Defence Limited contributes directly to this critical ecosystem by designing and manufacturing advanced hydraulic test benches, specialized pneumatic systems, and automated ground support equipment engineered to qualify mission-critical aerospace and defence systems to the highest standards of performance and reliability.