India test-fires hypersonic missile, joins select club

India has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting the flight trial of its first long-range hypersonic missile, the feat putting the country in a select group of nations having the weapon that can strike with extreme speed and evade...

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Updated At : 07:32 AM Nov 18, 2024 IST

Balasore: Flight trial of DRDO's long range hypersonic missile being successfully conducted at Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off-the-coast of Odisha. (PTI Photo)

The test was carried out on Saturday night from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha. Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the missile can hit moving targets at sea and also static objects on land at a range greater than 1,500 km.

A hypersonic missile can travel at five times the speed of sound or Mach 5, which is 6,174 km per hour. However, some advanced versions of hypersonic missiles can even fly at the speed of more than 15 mach.

At present, Russia and China are way ahead in developing hypersonic missiles, while the US is in the process of developing a range of such weapons under an ambitious programme. Several other countries, including France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Iran and Israel, are also pursuing projects to develop hypersonic-missile systems.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the missile test as a “stupendous” achievement and a “historic moment”. “This significant achievement has put our country in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies,” he said. The minister congratulated the DRDO, armed forces and the industry for the achievement.

“This hypersonic missile is designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

After its launch, the missile was tracked by various range systems, deployed in multiple domains. The flight data obtained from ships confirmed the successful terminal manoeuvres and impact with high degree of accuracy, the MoD said.

The missile has been indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex at Hyderabad along with various other DRDO laboratories and industry partners.