Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday congratulated Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful flight test of indigenously developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha.
Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Rajnath said, “The @DRDO_India has today successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demontrator Vehicle using the indigenously developed scramjet propulsion system. With this success, all critical technologies are now established to progress to the next phase.”
“I congratulate to DRDO on this landmark achievement towards realising PM’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. I spoke to the scientists associated with the project and congratulated them on this great achievement. India is proud of them,” Rajnath said in a subsequent tweet.
DRDO also took to the microblogging site to share the information, DRDO said, “In a historic mission today, India successfully flight tested Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), a giant leap in indigenous defence technologies and significant milestone towards a #sashaktbharat and #atmanirbharbharat.”
“DRDO with this mission, has demonstrated capabilities for highly complex technology that will serve as the building block for NextGen Hypersonic vehicles in partnership with industry,” DRDO added.
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight, it can cruise at a speed of Mach 6 and move up to an altitude of 32.5 km in 20 seconds. HSDTV can be used for long-range cruise missiles of the future and also for launching satellites at low cost.
With the successful test of HSTDV, India became the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to develop hypersonic technology.
