INDIA successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously-developed Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from a base off the Odisha coast on Wednesday. The HSTDV was test-fired by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Launch Complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on Dr Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal at about 11.25 am, DRDO sources said.

 

 

The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight, it can cruise at mach 6 speed and move up to an altitude of 32.5 km (20 miles) in 20 seconds, they added. Besides its utility for long-range cruise missiles of the future, the dual-use technology will have multiple civilian applications also. It can be used for launching satellites at low cost too, the sources said.

 

 

Describing the maiden trial of the HSTDV as successful, the sources said, “The new technology was tested and the data generated by the radars showed it was a success.”