India on Monday, September 7 successfully tested the indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV) from APJ Abdul Kalam testing range (Wheeler Island) in Balasore, Odisha.
With this, India has become the fourth country after the United States, Russia and China to develop and successfully test hypersonic technology which will power futuristic long-range missile systems and aerial platforms.
The test of Hypersonic Test Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was conducted at 11.03 am today using the Agni missile booster and lasted for five minutes. The test was led by DRDO chief Satheesh Reddy and his hypersonic missile team.
At 11.03 am, the Agni missile booster took the hypersonic vehicle to height of 30 km after which the latter separated. Thereafter, the vehicle’s air intake opened and that led to successfully firing of the test scramjet engine. The combustion lasted for more than 20 seconds with the vehicle achieving a speed of Mach 6. “The vehicle performed successfully on all the pre-determined parametres including the ability to handle combustion temperatures of over 2500 degrees Celsius as well as air speed,” said a senior official.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO on this landmark achievement towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
“The DRDO has today successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle using the indigenously developed scramjet propulsion system. With this success, all critical technologies are now established to progress to the next phase,” Singh tweeted.
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight. Besides its utility for long-range cruise missiles of the future, the technology has multiple civilian applications also. It can be used for launching satellites at low cost too, according to government officials.
