India’s Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has achieved a major milestone in the country’s hypersonic missile program. The laboratory successfully conducted a long-duration ground test of a full-scale scramjet combustor with active cooling.
The Ministry of Defence said the test took place on Friday at DRDL’s Scramjet Connect Pipe Test (SCPT) Facility. During the test, the combustor ran continuously for more than 12 minutes, showing strong and stable performance.
This achievement is a significant improvement over an earlier long-duration subscale test carried out in April 2025. It is an important step toward developing operational hypersonic cruise missiles for India, bringing the country closer to advanced missile capabilities that can travel at extremely high speeds.
The success of this test demonstrates India’s growing expertise in hypersonic technology and strengthens the country’s defence research capabilities. It also highlights DRDL’s role in advancing critical technologies for future missile systems.