DRDO Achieves Breakthrough In Hypersonic Missile Development Programme

New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday successfully conducted a long-duration test of an actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor, marking a significant advance in India’s hypersonic missile programme.

The “extensive” long-duration test of the “actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor” has put India at the forefront of advanced aerospace capabilities, the defence ministry said. For any hypersonic missile programme, this technology is considered extremely crucial as active cooling allows the weapon to travel hundreds of miles at incredible speed.

According to an official statement by the ministry, the test conducted at the Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), achieved a continuous run-time of over 1,200 seconds (20 minutes), validating the engine’s ability to sustain extreme thermal loads required for hypersonic cruise missiles.

The DRDL achieved a “path-breaking milestone in the development of hypersonic missiles by successfully conducting an “extensive long-duration test of its actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor”, the ministry said.