In hypersonic missile tech milestone, Scramjet combustor achieves run time of over 12 minutes

This significant achievement builds upon the earlier subscale test conducted on April 25 last year for more than 1000 seconds, marking a crucial step forward in Hypersonic Missiles development. The combustor and test facility were designed and developed by the DRDL and realised by industry partners. “The successful test positions India at the forefront of advanced aerospace capabilities,” ministry statement said.

The hypersonic cruise missile is capable of exceeding five times the speed of sound or over 6,100 kilometres per hour for extended periods. The speed is achieved through a cutting-edge air-breathing engine, which utilises supersonic combustion to sustain long-duration flight.

“The ground-tests conducted at SCPT facility have successfully validated the design of advanced scramjet combustor, as well as the capabilities of state-of-art test facility,” The MoD said.

In January last year, the DRDL had demonstrated a cutting-edge Active Cooled Scramjet Combustor ground test for two minutes (120 second) for the first time in India at the time.