DRDO Tests India’s First Long Range Hypersonic Missile

dia’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the country’s first long-range hypersonic missile from its launch side off the coast of Odisha late on November 16.

This hypersonic missile is designed to carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 kms for the Armed Forces, a DRDO release said.

With the launch, India becomes the only country aside of Russia, China and possibly the U.S. having hypersonic missiles that travel 5-7 times the speed of sound making their interception practically impossible.

The missile was tracked by various range systems, deployed in multiple domains. The flight data obtained from down range ship stations confirmed the successful terminal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy.

This missile has been indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile complex, Hyderabad along with various other DRDO laboratories and Industry Partners.

A video of the launch released by DRDO showed the missile shooting skywards about 3-4 seconds into the launch after a loud bang and a flash of fire indicting a two-stage rocket. Details of the missile such as its speed or technical characteristics were not revealed in the DRDO release.

In a post on X, Defense minister Rajnath Singh described the flight-trial as a historic achievement which has put India in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies.