Overview
- DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Laboratory reported a continuous scramjet combustor run of about 1,200 seconds at its Hyderabad test site, setting a new endurance mark.
- A scramjet burns fuel in air moving at supersonic speed, which can enable flight faster than Mach 5 without carrying liquid oxygen onboard.
- The team built an actively cooled combustor with high‑temperature thermal barrier coatings and used liquid hydrocarbon fuel developed in India.
- DRDL said it designed the hardware and the test setup in India with support from domestic industry and universities.
- The long run took place in the Scramjet Connect Pipe Test facility and follows shorter trials, including a roughly 12‑minute test in January 2026, with the defence minister calling the latest result a foundation for future missile work.