Overview
- DRDO’s Defence Research & Development Laboratory said the full-scale, actively cooled scramjet combustor ran for over 1,200 seconds at the SCPT facility in Hyderabad on Saturday.
- The Defence Ministry said the trial validated the combustor’s design and the test facility, which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called a solid base for a hypersonic cruise missile program.
- The engine managed extreme heat using active cooling that circulates fuel through wall channels so the combustor can keep burning while air rushes through at supersonic speed.
- The run followed a 700-plus-second test in January, and officials said the new data will guide the next phase that moves the program toward flight trials.
- DRDO highlighted indigenous advances including an endothermic hydrocarbon fuel and a new ceramic thermal barrier coating developed with DST labs to survive temperatures beyond steel’s melting point.