News: The Defence Research and Development Organisation has successfully conducted the flight test of its maiden long-range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha.
1. The missile has been designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km for Indian armed forces.
2. The missile has been developed indigenously by DRDO’s Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad, along with several other DRDO laboratories and industry partners.
3. The successful flight test of the missile demonstrated various technologies like usage of scramjet propulsion, aerodynamic configuration, thermo-structural characterisation of high temperature materials and separation mechanism at hypersonic velocities.
4. Hypersonic missiles display maneuverability, accuracy and can fly at speeds of at least Mach 5, five times the speed of sound.
5. Two primary types of hypersonic weapons are: A) Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGVs) B) Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCMs).
6. Apart from India, countries like US, Russia and China are leading in hypersonic missile development.
