The Indian Army has initiated a programme to safeguard troops, munitions, and equipment along its frontiers with China and Pakistan. Precision-guided weapons have altered the calculus around fixed surface installations, leaving them more exposed than previously — a development that appears to have informed the decision.
Nineteen separate underground protection schemes, spread across its operational theatre, have been set in motion by the Army's Northern Command. Each installation is being shaped around the specific operational demands and landscape of its location, with protection against missile fire, mortar rounds, and airborne threats factored into the design from the outset.
Takeaways drawn from recent engagements across West Asia, along with those stemming from Operation Sindoor, have been incorporated into defence planning frameworks. Underground, the network is intended to keep forces battle-ready even as attacks continue overhead.
Scrutiny of underground bunker complexes and tunnel-based weapons storage — facilities that have been referred to as missile cities — has grown as a byproduct of the programme. Bunkers and hardened subterranean installations held up under sustained aerial bombardment in recent conflicts, a pattern that drew attention to how buried infrastructure can retain operational value across extended engagements.
Procurement tenders covering all 19 projects were issued under Northern Command in August, with the window for supplier submissions remaining open through 7 November. Ammunition stockpiling, equipment housing, and training-related logistical needs are among the functions the planned infrastructure is designed to accommodate.
Speaking at the SIDM Annual Session on 9 October, Northern Command's General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma, outlined the infrastructure developments that had been mapped out under the command's planning framework. He described commitments for the procurement process that included openness in vendor selection, a fair competitive environment, and access for qualifying businesses, among them MSMEs.
Parallel work is under way along the eastern flank, where ground forces are moving to bolster the narrow land passage known as the Siliguri Corridor, or the Chicken's Neck, given its value to the country's territorial connectivity. Underground installations envisioned for the site are intended to serve a range of functions, from sheltering stored materials to housing the networks needed to direct and sustain operations.
Prefabricated modules, underground installations, and caverns sunk to extreme depths are among the construction approaches the Army has developed — a portfolio of protective designs intended to hold against aerial strikes, artillery barrages, and munitions engineered to penetrate hardened shelters. Stakeholder input and evaluations of what modern battlefields demand shaped the thinking behind these concepts.
Underground shelters earmarked for combat drones and other high-value equipment are taking shape at a number of forward positions under work carried out by the Border Roads Organisation. Specifics have been withheld on security grounds, with the activity described as part of a wider programme aimed at strengthening stability across vulnerable border zones.
Growing reliance on buried facilities reflects a broader doctrinal shift in contemporary conflict, one that places a premium on keeping forces functional, protected, and able to sustain operations under pressure. Infrastructure engineered to account for varied landscapes and ground conditions is associated, according to the planning frameworks, with reduced vulnerability, preserved fighting strength, and the ability to maintain operations over an extended period.
