'Hypersonic missiles': DRDO achieves major milestone, completes scramjet combustor ground testing

New Delhi: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has completed scramjet combustor ground testing for more than 1,000 seconds, marking a `significant’ milestone in the realm of hypersonic weapons technology.

Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), a DRDO laboratory in Hyderabad, has taken the lead in creating a long-duration supersonic combustion ramjet or scramjet-powered hypersonic technology.

DRDL successfully carried out long-duration active cooled scramjet subscale combustor ground testing for more than 1,000 seconds at the newly built state-of-the-art Scramjet Connect Test Facility at Hyderabad, the Defence Ministry said.

"After the successful test, the system will soon be ready for full-scale flight-worthy combustor testing. The ground test is a continuation of a previous 120-second test published in January, when the Ministry stated that the DRDL had developed these technologies and showed a cutting-edge active cooled scramjet combustor ground test for this duration for the first time in India,” the Ministry said.

Elaborating further, the Ministry said that the successful ground test had marked a “crucial milestone in developing next-generation hypersonic missiles”. A hypersonic cruise missile belongs to a class of weapons that can travel more than Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound (over 6,100 kmph) for long duration and is powered by air breathing engine.

Air-breathing propulsion systems, having supersonic combustion, play a critical role in long-duration cruise conditions. “This test validates the design of the long-duration scramjet combustor as well as the test facility. It is an outcome of an integrated effort put in by the DRDO labs along with industry and academia, and paves a strong base for the nation’s Hypersonic Cruise Missile Development Programme,” it added.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the DRDO, industry partners, and academia for the “remarkable achievement”. He termed it as a reflection of the government’s strong commitment in realising critical hypersonic weapon technologies for the nation.

Department of Defence R&D Secretary and DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat congratulated Director General (Missiles & Strategic Systems) U Raja Babu, DRDL Director G A Srinivasa Murthy, and the entire team for “demonstrating the supersonic combustion for more than 1,000 seconds involving cutting-edge technologies”, the Ministry said.