Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for successfully flight testing the indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV).
He said that this technology is a landmark achievement towards realising PM’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). “The @DRDO_India has today successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demontrator Vehicle using the indigenously developed scramjet propulsion system. With this success, all critical technologies are now established to progress to the next phase,” Singh said on Twitter.“I congratulate 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.”
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight, it can cruise at a speed of mach 6 and move up to an altitude of 32.5 km (20 miles) in 20 seconds, according to the government.
Besides its utility for long-range cruise missiles of the future, the dual-use technology will have multiple civilian applications also. It can be used for launching satellites at low cost too, news agency PTI quoted a government official as saying. The HSTDV can move up to an altitude of 32.5 km in 20 seconds and once it is achieved successfully; India will enter a select club of countries that have such technology.
The HSTDV cruise vehicle is mounted on a solid rocket motor, which will take it to a required altitude, and once it attains certain mach numbers for speed, the cruise vehicle will be ejected out of the launch vehicle. Subsequently, the scramjet engine will be ignited automatically.
