DRDO'S HYPERSONIC CRUISE MISSILE IS AMONG THE FIRST IN THE WORLD

A hypersonic boom, which could set forth Extended Trajectory-Long Duration Hypersonic Cruise Missile (ET-LDHCM) up to Mach 8-10, to next-gen AESA, to applying quantum sensing to the antisubmarine warfare, DRDO is proving true to the R&D within its name. In an Exclusive interaction, Samir V. Kamat, Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO, speaks with Manish Kumar Jha on the full and comprehensive range of military technology development, some of them futuristic and ground-breaking for India.

- DR SAMIR V. KAMAT, SECRETARY DDR&D AND CHAIRMAN DRDO

Manish Kumar Jha (Manish Jha): The DRDO recently broke new ground by conducting test of a scramjet engine, which will enable critical hypersonic weapon technology for India. How complex and indigenous is the scramjet engine development, and how will it be a game changer for DRDO’s next generation missile advancement?

Samir V. Kamat (Kamat): Hypersonic Cruise Missile is a class of weapons that can travel more than 5 times the speed of sound (> 6100 Kmph) for long duration and is powered by scramjet i.e., Air breathing engine. Air breathing propulsion systems, having supersonic combustion, plays a critical role for long-duration cruise conditions.

DRDO achieved a significant milestone in the field of Hyper-sonic Weapon Technology, when it conducted long-duration Active Cooled Scramjet Subscale Combustor ground testing. The development of this scramjet engine is fully indigenous. It will be a game changer as the hypersonic missiles are very difficult to track and intercept. It gives you an assured retaliation capability, even if the other country has good air defence. The missile is difficult to detect and even if detected, it is difficult to intercept them. We are working on two types of hypersonic missiles, hypersonic glide missile and hypersonic cruise missile. We have finished one development trial of Hypersonic glide missiles and in next 2-3 years we should be able to complete its development and will offer it to the Users.