India recently tested a Scramjet engine, its Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced. The Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), recently conducted an Active Cooled Scramjet Combustor ground test for 120 seconds.

This is the first time, that such a test has taken place in India. The Scramjet engine test follows India’s successful maiden flight of its first long-range hypersonic missile which is designed to carry various payloads to ranges greater than 1,500 km.

The DRDL is leading New Delhi’s effort to develop a long-duration supersonic sombustion samjet or scramjet powered hypersonic technology. Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds greater than Mach 5 and have the potential to bypass existing Air Defence (AD) systems.

“The achievement marks a crucial milestone in the development of next-generation hypersonic missiles,” said India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. In a release, India’s MoD stated that the ground test of the scramjet combustor showcased several notable achievements, demonstrating its potential for operational use in Hypersonic vehicles, like successful ignition and stable combustion.

The Scramjet combustor incorporates an innovative flame stabilisation technique that maintains a continuous flame inside the combustor with air speed in excess of 1.5 km/s. A new advanced ceramic Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) having high thermal resistance and capable of operating beyond melting point of steel has been jointly developed by DRDL and Department of Science & Technology (DST) Laboratory.

The coating is applied inside the Scramjet engine. DRDL in partnership with Indian industry has also developed an endothermic scramjet fuel for the first time in India. “The fuel offers dual benefits of significant cooling improvement and ease of ignition,” an MoD spokesperson said. A special manufacturing process has also been developed to produce the fuel on an industrial scale.

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