In a boost to indigenous defence development, India on Monday successfully tested an indigenously-developed hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) that is expected to power futuristic long-range missile systems and aerial platforms.
The HSTDV, based on hypersonic propulsion technologies, has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
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," he tweeted.
DRDO chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy also congratulated all the scientists, researchers and other personnel related with the HSTDV mission for "their resolute and unwavering efforts towards strengthening the nation’s defence capabilities".
The DRDO said that with the successful test flight of the HSTDV, India has demonstrated capabilities for highly complex technology that will serve as the building block for next generation hypersonic vehicles in partnership with domestic defence industry.
What is hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle?
Developed by DRDO, the HSTDV powers cruise missiles and operates on scramjet engines which can attain the speed of around Mach 6 which is far better than ramjet engines. It can cruise at a speed of Mach 6 and an altitude of 32.5 kilometres.
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight. The HSTDV has multiple civilian applications and can also be used for launching satellites at low cost and long-range cruise missile.
