SOURCE – THE HINDU
PAPER – GS 3
CONTEXT :
The hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology was successfully demonstrated by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 7th September 2020 with a flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), which will lead to the development of hypersonic cruise missiles and vehicles in future.
About Hypersonic cruise vehicle
- The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight.
- Carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles, and will have multiple civilian applications including the launching of small satellites at low cost.
- Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) is intended to attain autonomous scramjet flight for 20 seconds, using a solid rocket launch booster.
- The eventual target is to reach Mach 6 at an altitude of 32.5 km (20 miles).
- It uses a scramjet engine in which air enters at supersonic speed and comes out with hypersonic speeds.
CONCLUSION
- India enters in Elite club of nations that have demonstrated this technology
- 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