DRDO develops Scramjet that powers hypersonic missiles to travel 5 times the speed of sound

By Pune Media On Jan 21, 2025 24

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a long-duration Supersonic Combustion Ramjet or scramjet-powered hypersonic technology that is being pursued by a select few nations including the USA, Russia and China, due to its ability to bypass air defence system and hit target.

The key to hypersonic vehicles or missiles lies in scramjets, which are air-breathing engines capable of sustaining combustion at supersonic speeds without the need for any moving parts. Hypersonic missiles are a class of advanced weaponry that travel at speeds greater than Mach 5 i.e., five times the speed of sound or more than 5,400 kmph.

The Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), a Hyderabad-based laboratory of DRDO, recently developed these technologies and demonstrated a cutting-edge Active Cooled Scramjet Combustor ground test for 120 seconds for the first time in India which marked a crucial milestone in developing next-generation hypersonic missions, announced the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented DRDO and the industry for the successful scramjet engine ground test. “The achievement marks a crucial milestone in the development of next-generation hypersonic missions,” he said.

The ground test of the scramjet combustor showcased several notable achievements, demonstrating its potential for operational use in Hypersonic vehicles, like successful ignition and stable combustion.

Ignition in a scramjet engine is like ‘keeping a candle lit in a hurricane’, observed the Ministry.

Scramjet combustor incorporates an innovative flame stabilisation technique that holds continuous flame inside the combustor with airspeed of over 1.5 km per second.

Many novel and promising ignition and flame-holding techniques were studied through many ground tests in arriving at the scramjet engine configuration, the MoD said.

Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation tools were used for their evaluation and performance prediction.

The Ministry also informed that the indigenous development of endothermic scramjet fuel, for the first time in India, jointly by DRDL and industry is central to this breakthrough.

The fuel offers dual benefits of significant cooling improvement and ease of ignition. The team developed a special manufacturing process to achieve stringent fuel requirements of DRDL at an industrial scale.

Another key achievement is the development of state-of-art Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) which is designed to withstand extreme temperatures encountered during hypersonic flight. The coating is applied inside the Scramjet engine using special deposition methods that enhance their performance and longevity.

Published on January 21, 2025

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