The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully conducted a flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) on Friday, with the vehicle covering approximately 1,500 km in under 15 minutes at a sustained speed exceeding Mach 6 after being carried to an altitude of 30 km by an Agni-1 ballistic missile booster. The test, conducted from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha, was monitored by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the DRDO headquarters in New Delhi.
The DRDO Chairman called the test a landmark achievement that demonstrates India mastery of scramjet propulsion technology for sustained hypersonic flight. India joins the United States, Russia, and China as the only countries with a demonstrated operational hypersonic flight capability. The HSTDV platform will serve as the technology testbed for a future generation of hypersonic cruise missiles with ranges exceeding 1,500 km and speeds that make them practically impossible to intercept with existing air defence systems. The development timeline for an operational missile system is estimated at five to seven years.