India joins Hypersonic Missile and Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet clubs

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) announced that it “successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSDTV) using the indigenously developed scramjet propulsion system.” Hailing this success, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that “With this success, all critical technologies are now established to progress to the next phase.” Giving details of the test, DRDO said that the hypersonic cruise vehicle was launched by utilizing a previously tested solid rocket motor, which propelled the vehicle/missile to an altitude of thirty kilometres, where the aerodynamic heat shields separated at hypersonic speeds and “the cruise vehicle continued on its desired flight path at a velocity of six times the speed of sound i.e. nearly 2 km/s for more than 20s” (seconds). Congratulating the DRDO and the scientists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “The scramjet engine developed by our scientists helped the flight achieve a speed 6 times the speed of sound! Very few countries have such capability today.” Indeed, only the United States, Russia, and China have so far developed this technology. HSDTV has a range of uses including being missiles for air defence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and energy-efficient, low-cost and reusable satellite launch vehicles. The HSDTV can travel with computerised precision at six times the speed of sound making it an unstoppable force that can create great damage with sheer kinetic impact even if they are not armed by bombs. Capable of carrying nuclear payloads, the HSDTV presents serious threats to militaries around the world. The United States has been trying to develop a sensor shield system called the Hypersonic Ballistic Missile Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) to track and destroy incoming hypersonic missiles.