India on Monday took the primary steps towards creating a new class of ultra-modern weapons that can travel six times quicker than the speed of sound (Mach 6) and penetrate any missile defence.
The Defence Research and Development Association (DRDO) carried out a fruitful flight test of the hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) for the primary time from a launch facility off the Odisha coast.“
The DRDO has effectively demonstrated the hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of HSTDV at 1103 hours from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam launch complex at Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha on Monday,” the defence ministry explanation said.
“The DRDO has today effectively flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle using the indigenously developed scramjet drive system. With this victory, all basic advances are presently built up to progress to the next phase,” defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote on Twitter.
“Congratulations to @DRDO_India for the successful flight of the Hypersonic Test Demonstration Vehicle today. The scramjet engine developed by our scientists helped the flight achieve a speed 6 times the speed of sound! Very few countries have such capability today,” the Prime Minister Modi wrote on Twitter.