Rapid Fire
DRDO's Scramjet Test Boosts Hypersonic Missile Development
- 25 Jan 2025
- 2 min read
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted a Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet) engine ground test, advancing India's hypersonic missile tech.
- Scramjet Engine: A scramjet engine (Air-breathing engines) is an advanced ramjet that uses supersonic airflow for combustion, enabling faster speeds. It uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for thrust, offering better fuel efficiency.
- Unlike a turbojet engine, ramjets and scramjets have no moving parts, consisting only of an inlet, combustor (with fuel injector and flame holder), and a nozzle.
- Scramjets are key to hypersonic vehicles to handle airflows at speeds above the speed of sound, offer maneuverability, and strategic advantage.
- Achievements of DRDO: Ground test achieved stable combustion in the scramjet engine, and developed indigenous endothermic scramjet fuel for improved cooling and ignition.
- A Thermal Barrier Coating was also developed to withstand extreme temperatures.
- Hypersonic Missiles: Traveling at speeds greater than Mach 5 (over 5,400 km/h), bypass air defences with high-speed, high-impact strikes.
- Global Race for Hypersonic Missiles: The US, Russia, and China are advancing hypersonic tech.
- In 2021, China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle that circled the globe before speeding towards its target.
Read more: Defence Research and Development Organisation, Air Breathing Engines
