Indian Thought Latest News & Views
New Delhi: India on Friday tested the indigenously designed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle off the Odisha coast. This hypersonic weapon is capable of flying five times faster than the speed of sound. This technology uses a scramjet engine (supersonic-combustion ramjet), which gives it hypersonic speed. This unique technology is available only with three other countries in the world – USA, China and Russia.
According to sources, this indigenous Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle was tested on Friday afternoon from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha. However, neither the Ministry of Defense nor the DRDO made any formal statement on whether the test was successful or not. It is believed that if this test is successful, then it can play an important role in the manufacture of hypersonic weapons in the future.
The initial test flight was successful, but there are concerns about the performance of the HSTDV’s scramjet engine, although more can be said once more data is available. DRDO has already done three tests in 2019, 2020, 2021. However, the 2019 test was unsuccessful.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has supported the test of hypersonic weapon and he has issued instructions to DRDO to work on it fast. Although the armed forces of India already have BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, which operate at a speed of Mach 2.8. Their firepower ranges from 290 km to 450 km.
