NEW DELHI: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday conducted a flight trial of a long-range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
The hypersonic missile that the DRDO tested is designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1500 km for all the services of the Indian armed forces.
The missile has been indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad along with various other DRDO laboratories and Industry Partners.
The flight trial was carried out in the presence of senior scientists of DRDO and the armed forces.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO on the successful flight trial of the missile, calling it a “major milestone” for the nation.
“India has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting flight trial of long range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off-the-coast of Odisha. This is a historic moment and this significant achievement has put our country in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies. I congratulate Team DRDO, our armed forces and the Industry for stupendous achievement,” Rajnath Singh wrote on X.
How hypersonic missile works
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound in the upper atmosphere – or about 6,200 km per hour (3,850 mph). This is slower than an intercontinental ballistic missile, but the shape of a hypersonic glide vehicle allows it to manoeuvre toward a target or away from defences.
Combining a glide vehicle with a missile that can launch it partially into orbit – a so-called fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) – could strip adversaries of reaction time and traditional defences mechanisms. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), by contrast, carry nuclear warheads on ballistic trajectories that travel into space but never reach orbit.