India has successfully tested an indigenously-developed hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) powered by a scramjet engine, which will serve as a critical building block for next-generation hypersonic cruise missiles. The HSTDV test, conducted from Odisha coast at 11.03 am to demonstrate the autonomous flight of a scramjet integrated vehicle, propelled India right into an extremely exclusive hypersonic club consisting of the US, Russia and China as of now.
A scramjet typically only functions properly at high speeds, requiring some kind of booster, generally a rocket motor, to accelerate it to operating velocity. Then, the scramjet - an airbreathing jet in which the airflow is supersonic throughout the entire engine - kicks in. Hypersonic speeds are normally defined as Mach 5 or above.
The Agni-I carrying the HSTDV lifts off from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island.
The Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) was launched atop an Agni-I rocket - based on a short-range ballistic missile - which took it to an altitude of 18.6 miles and hypersonic velocity, according to a statement from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). At this point, the aerodynamic heat shields fell away and the cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle. The air intake for the scramjet deployed and the vehicle continued to fly for more than 20 seconds at a speed of around Mach 6. The scramjet engine was powered by kerosene fuel.
The entire test was monitored by telemetry stations, electro-optical systems, and tracking radars - including a research vessel in the Bay of Bengal.
The latest demonstration proved a number of key technologies that will now inform further hypersonic developments, including the aerodynamic configuration of the cruise vehicle, separation mechanism, scramjet ignition, and sustained combustion in the hypersonic realm.
According to sources, the HSTDV will pave the way toward a practical weapon in the next five years. Other nations to have tested the technology required for a hypersonic cruise missile are the United States, China, and Russia.
Not all hypersonic missiles are powered, however, with some like the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, utilizing an unpowered boost-glide vehicle. A scramjet powerplant, on the other hand, offers the opportunity for sustained cruise and a more dynamic flight profile, making it potentially harder still to intercept and more flexible to employ.
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