Context:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a long-duration ground test (over 12 minutes) of its Actively Cooled Scramjet Full-Scale Combustor, marking a major milestone in India’s hypersonic missile development programme.
Key Highlights:
- Test Achievement
- Conducted at the Scramjet Connect Pipe Test (SCPT) facility.
- Executed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad.
- Achieved over 12 minutes of continuous combustion.
- Earlier milestones:
- 120-second test (January last year) – first in India.
- Subscale test (April 25 last year) – over 1000 seconds.
- Scientific & Technological Aspects
- Uses an Actively Cooled Scramjet Combustor to withstand extreme thermal stress.
- Employs supersonic combustion, where fuel burns in airflow moving faster than sound.
- Designed for hypersonic cruise missiles exceeding Mach 5 (over 6,100 km/h).
- Validated both:
- Advanced combustor design.
- Capability of indigenous ground-testing facilities.
- Strategic Significance
- Places India among leading nations in hypersonic propulsion technology.
- Enhances capability in next-generation precision-strike systems.
- Strengthens deterrence in the context of the global hypersonic arms race.
Relevant Prelims Points:
- Hypersonic Speed:
- Speed greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).
- Scramjet (Supersonic Combustion Ramjet):
- Air-breathing engine.
- No rotating compressor parts.
- Operates efficiently at hypersonic speeds.
- Ramjet vs Scramjet:
- Ramjet: Subsonic combustion.
- Scramjet: Supersonic combustion.
- DRDO:
- Established in 1958.
- Works under the Ministry of Defence.
- DRDL (Hyderabad):
- Key laboratory for missile development.
Relevant Mains Points:
GS 3 – Science & Technology
- Indigenous scramjet technology reduces reliance on foreign propulsion systems.
- Enables development of:
- Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCMs).
- Advanced aerospace platforms.
- Long-duration combustion critical for:
- Sustained hypersonic flight.
- Operational viability.
GS 3 – Internal Security
- Hypersonic missiles:
- Harder to intercept due to high speed and manoeuvrability.
- Enhance strategic deterrence.
- Strengthens India’s preparedness amid advancements by:
- USA
- China
- Russia
- Raises need for parallel development of:
- Missile defence systems
- Early warning infrastructure.
- Way Forward
- Accelerate integration of scramjet engine with full missile systems.
- Strengthen collaboration between DRDO, ISRO, academia, and private industry.
- Invest in thermal protection systems and materials science.
- Develop counter-hypersonic defence mechanisms.
UPSC Relevance:
Emerging defence technologies, Hypersonic propulsion, Indigenous R&D, Strategic deterrence, Defence modernization.