New Delhi: India achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting its first trial of a long-range hypersonic missile, marking a significant advancement in the country’s defence capabilities. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted the test late on Saturday from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.
The hypersonic missile, designed to carry various payloads for ranges exceeding 1,500 km, is a breakthrough in India's defence technology. Capable of bypassing traditional ballistic missile defence systems, it enhances the country's deterrence capabilities.
The missile's flight was tracked using an array of range systems deployed across multiple domains. Data from downrange ship stations confirmed the missile’s successful terminal manoeuvres and precise impact. The project has been indigenously developed by DRDO’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and industry partners.
The flight trial was conducted in the presence of senior DRDO scientists and Armed Forces officials. The defence ministry stated on Sunday that the trial confirmed the missile's advanced capabilities, including its accuracy and maneuverability.
India joins a select group of nations with hypersonic missile capabilities, including Russia, China, and the United States. Russia and China lead in hypersonic weapon development, while the US is progressing rapidly under an ambitious programme. Other countries, such as France, Germany, Japan, and Israel, are also pursuing hypersonic missile projects.
Hypersonic missiles, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, pose a unique challenge to detection systems due to their speed, low-altitude flight, and maneuverability. In contrast, ballistic missiles, while fast, follow predictable trajectories, making them more vulnerable to interception.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh lauded the achievement, describing it as a "historic moment" and a "stupendous" accomplishment under the nation’s first long-range hypersonic mission. "This significant achievement has placed India among the select nations possessing such critical and advanced military technologies," Singh wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), possess the ability to execute vertical and horizontal manoeuvres while travelling at high speed within the Earth's atmosphere. This makes them exceptionally challenging to detect and intercept compared to traditional ballistic missiles, which follow a set trajectory and are easier to track.
In 2021, defence minister Rajnath Singh emphasised the importance of hypersonic cruise missile development to maintain credible deterrence against evolving threats. He had urged for immediate efforts to develop these advanced systems to counter increasingly robust ballistic missile defence systems.
