SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
Conference Brochure for the Symposium on Applied Aerodynamics and Design of Aerospace Vehicles (SAROD) that is being organized biennially to share the experiences of specialists involved in a major aerospace vehicle design programme that is being pursued in India as well as abroad showcased the final configuration of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV).
Hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology developed by the DRDO was first tested in 2020 using a proven solid rocket motor, which took it to an altitude of 30 kilometers (km), where the aerodynamic heat shields were separated at hypersonic Mach number.
DRDO is planning to test another round of HSTDV without the headshields this time. The program is called Technological demonstrator and the Production weaponised variant of the HSTDV will be one that is seen in the above image.
DRDO plans to have a workable production-ready HSTDV ready to commence user trials from 2024-25 onwards.
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