India successfully test fires long-range hypersonic missile, joins elite club

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Nov 16 conducted a successful flight test of a long-range hypersonic missile from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh termed the successful flight test of the long-range hypersonic missile as a ‘major milestone ’ and said this historic moment has put India in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies.

“India has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting a flight trial of the long-range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off-the-coast of Odisha. This is a historic moment and this significant achievement has put our country in the group of select nations having capabilities of such critical and advanced military technologies,” Singh said in a post on X on Nov 17, congratulating DRDO and the armed forces.

This hypersonic missile can reportedly carry various payloads for ranges over 1500km for all the Services of the Indian Armed Forces.

Indigenously developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad, along with various other DRDO laboratories and Industry Partners, the flight trial was carried out in the presence of senior scientists of DRDO and the Armed Forces, according to DRDO.

Hypersonic weapons are those that travel at hypersonic speed, defined as between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound or about 1 to 5 miles per second.

On Nov 12, DRDO conducted the maiden flight test of Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the coast of Odisha from a mobile articulated launcher.

According to a release issued by the Press Information Bureau, all sub-systems performed as per expectation and met the primary mission objectives during this test. The missile performance was monitored by several range sensors like Radar, Electro-Optical Tracking System, and telemetry deployed by ITR at different locations to ensure complete coverage of the flight path, it added.

The missile demonstrated its capability to perform various maneuvers while flying at various altitudes and speeds. The missile is also equipped with advanced avionics and software to ensure better and more reliable performance, the release said.