India completes second scramjet ignition test

India's DRDL said it conducted long-duration active cooled scramjet subscale combustor ground testing for more than 1,000 seconds on 25 April. (DRDO)

Months after it test-fired an active cooled scramjet subscale combustor for the first time, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted a longer ignition test, which lasted “for more than 1,000 seconds”, according to the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The test was conducted on 25 April at the newly built Scramjet Connect Test Facility at Hyderabad by the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), a laboratory of the DRDO based in the same city.

In the earlier test, which was conducted in January, the DRDL-produced active cooled scramjet subscale combustor was ignited and operated continuously for 120 seconds, according to the Indian MoD.

The “test validates the design of [the] long duration scramjet combustor as well as [the] test facility”, the MoD said.

With the January test, the MoD said that the potential of the scramjet combustor “for operational use in hypersonic vehicles” had been demonstrated. After the latest test on 25 April, however, the MoD has said that the “system will be soon ready for full-scale flightworthy combustor testing”.

According to the MoD, the tests are the result of an “integrated effort” by the DRDO labs along with industry and academia. India is aspiring to develop hypersonic cruise missiles that can travel at more than five times the speed of sound (more than 6,100 km/h), and over long distances.

This article contains analysis provided by Janes weapons analyst Niranjan B S.

For more information on the January test, please seeIndia tests scramjet combustor for hypersonic missiles.