DRDL achieves breakthrough 12‑minute scramjet test for Hypersonic Missiles

Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has announced the successful long‑duration ground test of its Actively Cooled Scramjet Full‑Scale Combustor.

The test, conducted on Friday at its state‑of‑the‑art Scramjet Connect Pipe Test (SCPT) facility, achieved a run time of over 12 minutes — a significant step toward the development of hypersonic cruise missiles. This milestone builds on an earlier subscale long‑duration test conducted on April 25 last year.

Both the combustor and the test facility were designed and developed by DRDL and realised in partnership with industry collaborators. DRDO said the achievement places India at the forefront of advanced aerospace propulsion technologies.

A hypersonic cruise missile is capable of flying at speeds exceeding five times the speed of sound — over 6,100 km per hour — for extended durations. This is enabled by a cutting‑edge air‑breathing scramjet engine that uses supersonic combustion to maintain sustained high‑speed flight.

The ground tests conducted at the SCPT facility have validated both the advanced scramjet combustor design and the capabilities of the test infrastructure, the organisation said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, industry partners and academia involved in the programme, noting that the successful test ‘lays a solid foundation’ for the country’s Hypersonic Cruise Missile Development Programme. Secretary, Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Samir V. Kamat also commended the teams associated with the test for their ‘commendable achievement’, according to a press release.