India is making significant strides in developing a hypersonic cruise missile, driven by advancements in scramjet engine technology. The missile, known as Project Vishnu, is expected to reach speeds of 8 Mach, translating to approximately 10,000 km/h.
Photo : PTI
With work on developing a scramjet engine going well, India has successfully negotiated the initial steps towards having in its arsenal a hypersonic cruise missile. Highly placed government said there has been “good progress” with the scramjet engine and the initial version of the missile will be at 8 Mach, almost 10,000 km per hour and currently, at least, it is impossible to stop.
This is Project Vishnu, currently before the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but there’s still initial work to be done. One challenge for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is countering the generation of heat– it must be ensured that “the structure does not melt,” which is why the thermal protection scheme will ensure that the titanium body of the missile will have a silica tile covering. Then, of course, there are wind-tunnel studies necessary– drag levels, that work against speed increasing, have to be looked at.
Sources said that while the initial version will have an 8 Mach speed, subsequent versions could be quicker, maybe touching Mach 10. Very few countries are working on such a weapon system. The Russians have something similar, but “their weapon glides in the final stages,” sources said. But they are working towards a complete hypersonic missile and are close to developing it. The Chinese missile also glides, sources added, after the initial thrust of the rocket motor and they are still the only countries close to developing one. “The Americans began work much earlier, but gave up. The technology wasn’t quite in place then,” sources added.
