India’s hypersonic missile test stuns the world, set to give sleepless nights to Pakistan, China, it is designed by…

New Delhi: Consistent with PIB New Delhi, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a flight test of India’s first long-range hypersonic missile on November sixteen, 2024, from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha. This missile is designed to carry different kinds of payloads and will in all probability cover distances of over 1,five hundred kilometers for the Armed Forces.

The missile became monitored by a few tracking systems across different areas. Data from ships stationed downrange confirmed that the missile successfully carried out its final maneuvers and hit the target with great accuracy.

The missile became developed in India by the labs of the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO labs and industry partners. Senior DRDO scientists and Armed Forces officers were present at some stage in the flight test.

In a post on X, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh most often also is termed the missile test a historic achievement that places India the masses of few nations with such progressed military technology. He congratulated DRDO, the Armed Forces, and industry partners for the a hit test.

Dr. Samir V Kamat, Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, praised the DRDO team for his or her active role in making the mission a success.

What are hypersonic weapons?

Hypersonic missiles are weapons that can shuttle at speeds five times faster than the speed of sound. This implies they could reach speeds between 6,100 km/h (Mach 5) and 24,140 km/h (Mach 20). As a result of these high speeds, they're extremely not easy to detect and forestall, making them very progressed and robust weapons.

What are different kinds of hypersonic weapons?

There are two main kinds of hypersonic weapons: Hypersonic Flow Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM).

Hypersonic glide vehicles are launched using a rocket. After isolating from the rocket, the glide vehicle travels at speeds of Mach 5 or more towards its target.

Hypersonic cruise missiles use scramjet engines. Scramjets are air-breathing engines designed for speeds above Mach 5 (over 6,100 km/h or three,800 mph). They compress incoming air and combust fuel at supersonic speeds (faster than the speed of sound, or Mach 1), bearing in mind high-speed, long-range flight. These missiles are fast, maneuverable, and difficult to intercept.

What's their significance?

The power to launch highly maneuverable weapons at hypersonic speeds provides a serious advantage to any u . s ., as these weapons can dodge almost all defense systems in use in the meanwhile time.

“If that you just may’t see the threat, that you just may’t defend against it,” said General John Hyten, former vp of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Personnel, at some stage in a speech in Washington in January 2020, consistent with VOA News.

In 2018, General Hyten, then commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said, “We don’t have any defense systems that can stop these weapons from being used against us. Our simplest defense is our ability to deter them.”

U.S. officials have said that though some ground-based radars can detect hypersonic weapons, there aren’t enough to give sufficient warning of an attack. Leaders, including retired General Hyten, have supported building a space-based radar system to beef up detection.

How are hypersonic weapons different from ballistic missiles?

Ballistic missiles may reach hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 or more, but they follow a fixed path and have limited ability to alter direction.