India’s ambitious Project Dhvani, a classified aerospace initiative under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is nearing a critical milestone, with its maiden test expected in December 2025.

The program, believed to be linked with high-speed re-entry or hypersonic vehicle technology, signifies a substantial leap in indigenous capability for next-generation thermal and aerodynamic endurance.

The vehicle’s distinguishing feature lies in its 251 uniquely engineered Thermal Protection Tiles (TPTs), each designed to withstand extreme aerodynamic heating and differential pressure during re-entry or sustained hypersonic flight.

These tiles employ advanced ceramic matrix composites, with individual geometries optimised for region-specific temperature loads, ensuring uniform heat dispersion and structural integrity under variable thermal gradients.

DRDO’s materials research divisions reportedly combined carbon–carbon composites, ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs), and silicon carbide in varying layering patterns to achieve both reusability and modularity. Each tile has undergone independent thermo-structural tests at high-enthalpy facilities to validate adhesion resistance, ablation thresholds, and shock resilience.

If successful, Project Dhvani will mark a pivotal step toward India’s reusable hypersonic platform development and reinforce the country’s credibility in advanced materials science and high-speed aerothermodynamics—a domain mastered by only a few global powers.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)