Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Pune, it is the main DRDO lab involved in the development of Conventional Armaments.
ARDE was established in 1958, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in the field of Armaments. ARDE started working from a rudimentary facility within the campus of Ammunition Factory, Khadki. Personnel were drawn from the erstwhile Technical Development Establishment (Weapons) located in Jabalpur and Technical Development Establishment (Ammunition) at Khadki.
In 1966, ARDE moved to its present location at Pashan, on the outskirts of Pune, next to the National Chemical Laboratory, a major CSIR Laboratory.
ARDE's main area of research is in the design and development of Conventional Armaments for the Indian Armed Forces. This stretches over the whole gamut of research, development, prototyping, test and evaluation, and transfer of technology activities. This includes basic and applied research, modeling, simulation and software development of armaments. Additionally, life extension and upgradation of in-Service equipment is also carried out.