1 hr ago
India Expands Missile Testing Network With New Andhra, Bengal Facilities
India is building two new places to test missiles.
One will be in Andhra Pradesh and the other in West Bengal.
The West Bengal site at Junput will work with the existing Chandipur range in Odisha.
The Andhra Pradesh site at Nagayalanka will be called the Navdurga range.
It will help test advanced missiles and parts of India’s ballistic missile defence programme.
Testing some defence systems requires several tracking tools and carefully planned flight paths.
More testing sites could help India avoid delays caused by crowded ranges.
People living within one kilometer of a range may need to leave temporarily during tests and will receive compensation and shelter arrangements.
India is developing missile-testing facilities in Nagayalanka, Andhra Pradesh, and Junput, West Bengal.
Junput will serve as an extension of the Chandipur test range in Odisha, about 75 kilometers away.
The Nagayalanka Navdurga range will support complex trials, including Phase-II ballistic missile defence testing.
The new facilities are intended to increase scheduling flexibility, testing capacity and weapons-development speed.
Junput land acquisition and road construction are complete, while temporary evacuation rules will apply during trials.
- Who
- India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, the central government, and the governments of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are involved.
- What
- India is expanding its missile-testing infrastructure with proposed facilities at Nagayalanka and Junput.
- Where
- Nagayalanka in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, and Junput in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, along with existing facilities in Odisha.
- When
- The Nagayalanka foundation stone was laid last year; the Junput project is now being facilitated after earlier delays.
- Why
- To increase missile-testing capacity and flexibility as India develops more ballistic, cruise, air-defence and ballistic-missile-defence systems.
Key facts
- Nagayalanka facility
- The Navdurga missile-test range is estimated to cost about Rs 1,460 crore.
- Junput facility
- It will operate as an extension of the Chandipur test range, located approximately 75 kilometers away.
- Testing role
- Nagayalanka will support complex trials, including India’s Phase-II ballistic missile defence programme.
- Infrastructure
- The Andhra Pradesh range is planned to include launch, instrumentation, radar, telemetry and electro-optical tracking facilities.
- Project status
- Land acquisition and road construction for the Junput test centre have been completed.
- Safety protocol
- Residents within one kilometer of the range may be temporarily evacuated during trials, with compensation and shelter arrangements.
- Strategic purpose
- Additional ranges are expected to improve scheduling, testing throughput and potentially development timelines.
Quotes
A defence official
A defence official who discussed the Junput facility anonymously.
“A defence company may have the manufacturing capability to produce weapons, but it still requires access to an appropriate test range for developmental and validation trials. If range availability becomes a bottleneck, the country's manufacturing ambitions cannot translate into faster induction or exports”
rediff.com
“The Junput facility will work like an extension of the Chandipur test range, located around 75 km away”
rediff.com
Suvendu Adhikari
West Bengal chief minister.
“We have responded to the letters from the Centre and are working to facilitate the test facility”
rediff.com
Sources
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