Overview
- The DRDO Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile made its first public appearance on Kartavya Path, confirming the programme and its road‑mobile, canisterised launcher for coastal battery deployment.
- According to the Ministry of Defence, the two‑stage boost‑glide weapon reaches hypersonic speeds starting at Mach 10, averages around Mach 5 with multiple skips, and remains hard to detect for most of its flight.
- Designed to strike moving and stationary maritime targets at roughly 1,500 km, the missile is intended to bolster sea‑denial and coastal defence for the Indian Navy.
- Program officials cite a successful flight test on November 16, 2024, and say warhead and sensor integration are next steps before anticipated naval induction in about two to three years.
- Parallel DRDO work on hypersonic technologies includes recent long‑duration ground runs of an actively cooled scramjet combustor, as the parade also showcased indigenous systems such as BrahMos, Akash, MRSAM/ABHRA, ATAGS, Dhanush, Suryastra, and a submarine‑tech tableau featuring ICS, WGHWT and AIP.