India Monday tested the indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle

Calling it a "landmark achievement", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO over the successful test flight of the HSTDV and said, "India is proud"

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday successfully demonstrated the Hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV) at 11:03 am from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha.

The hypersonic cruise vehicle was launched using a proven solid rocket motor, which took it to an altitude of 30 km, where the aerodynamic heat shields were separated at hypersonic Mach number. The cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle and the air intake opened as planned.

The hypersonic combustion sustained and the cruise vehicle continued its desired flight path at a velocity of six times the speed of sound i.e. nearly 2 km/s for more than 20 seconds. The critical events like fuel injection and auto ignition of scramjet demonstrated technological maturity and the scramjet engine performed in a textbook manner.

The parameters of launch and cruise vehicle, including the scramjet engine, was monitored by multiple tracking radars, electro-optical systems and telemetry stations.

"The scramjet engine worked at high dynamic pressure and at very high temperature. The ship was also deployed in the Bay of Bengal to monitor the performance during the cruise phase of hypersonic vehicle. All the performance parameters have indicated a resounding success of the mission," a DRDO official said.

With this successful demonstration, many critical technologies such as aerodynamic configuration for Hypersonic manoeuvres, use of scramjet propulsion for ignition and sustained combustion at hypersonic flow, thermo-structural characterisation of high-temperature materials, separation mechanism at hypersonic velocities etc were successfully tested.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO over the successful test flight of the HSTDV, calling it a "landmark achievement"

"I congratulate to DRDO on this landmark achievement towards realising PM's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. I spoke to the scientists associated with the project and congratulated them on this great achievement. India is proud of them," Rajnath Singh tweeted.