India successfully tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle on September 7, 2020, which has been indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
With this move, India has joined an elite group of countries- Russia, the United States, and China, who already possess this advanced technology. This is also the biggest achievement by DRDO in terms of proving new technology, after the anti-satellite test conducted in 2019.
The successful testing of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle comes amid the rising tensions between India and China because of the intrusions by the Chinese troops into the Indian territory leading thousands of troops facing off across the border.
Successful testing of Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV):
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully demonstrated its Hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology along with a flight test from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, Odisha.
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for the hypersonic speed flight. The vehicle was launched on September 7 using an in-service strategic missile and was taken to an altitude of 30 km. After the successful separation from the missile, the cruise vehicle separated and attained a speed of Mach 6- six times the speed of sound, for over 20 seconds.
The successfully tested and fired HSTDV has a range of users, which includes the missiles of the future for air defence, low cost, and reusable satellite-launch vehicles, surveillance and reconnaissance beside in the development of energy-efficient.
