India
DRDO conducts historic flight test of long-range hypersonic missiles | India News – Times of India
The hypersonic missile tested by the DRDO is designed to carry various payloads at a range of over 1,500 km for all services of the Indian Armed Forces.
The rocket was developed domestically by the laboratories of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad, along with several other DRDO laboratories and industry partners.
The flight test was conducted in the presence of senior scientists from DRDO and the Armed Forces.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO on the successful test flight of the missile and called it an “important milestone” for the nation.
“India has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting a flight test of a long-range hypersonic missile from Dr. Island. APJ Abdul Kalam, off the coast of Odisha. This is a historic moment and this significant achievement has put our country in the group of selected countries that have such crucial and advanced military technologies, I congratulate Team DRDO, our Armed Forces and the industry for their astounding achievement,” Rajnath Singh wrote on X.
How hypersonic missiles work
Hypersonic rockets 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 its hypersonic glide vehicle shape allows it to maneuver toward a target or away from defenses.
Combining a hover vehicle with a rocket that can partially launch it into orbit — a so-called fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) — could deprive adversaries of reaction time and traditional defense mechanisms. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), on the other hand, carry nuclear warheads on ballistic trajectories that travel into space but never reach Earth orbit.
