DRDO successfully conducts Scramjet engine ground test

22 Jan 2025

DRDO successfully conducts Scramjet engine ground test
Image source: Bin im Garten, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has achieved a crucial milestone by developing a long-duration supersonic combustion ramjet, or Scramjet powered hypersonic technology.

Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), a Hyderabad-based laboratory of DRDO, recently demonstrated the long-duration supersonic combustion Scramjet powered hypersonic technology. 

DRDL also demonstrated the cutting-edge active cooled Scramjet combustor technology through a 120-second ground test. The Scramjet technology is an important milestone in the development of next-generation hypersonic missiles. 

Hypersonic missiles can achieve speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, ie, more than 5,400 km per hour. The high speeds help these missiles bypass existing air defence systems and deliver rapid and high-impact strikes. 

Several nations, including the United States, Russia, and China are also actively pursuing the development of Scramjets that are key to hypersonic missiles. 

Scramjets are air breathing engines capable of sustaining combustion at supersonic speeds without using any moving parts. 

The ground test of Scramjet combustor showed successful ignition and stable combustion, demonstrating its potential for operational use in hypersonic vehicles. 

Since ignition in a Scramjet engine is like ‘keeping a candle lit in a hurricane’, its combustor incorporates a flame stabilisation technique that holds continuous flame inside the combustor with air speed in excess of 1.5 km per second. 

DRDL achieved the flame stabilisation of the Scramjet combustor after experimenting with several novel and promising ignition and flame holding techniques through several ground tests for arriving at the right Scramjet engine configuration. DRDL used advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation tools for evaluation and performance prediction. 

DRDL, along with industry partners also succeeded in developing an endothermic Scramjet fuel, which is central to the success. The fuel offers significant cooling improvement and ease of ignition. 

The joint team also developed a special manufacturing process to ensure stringent quality requirements of the fuel at industrial scale.

Besides, DRDL jointly with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) laboratory developed state-of-art Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) for protecting the Scramjet engine from extreme temperatures during hypersonic flight. The TBC uses a new advanced ceramic coating material having high thermal resistance, which is above the melting point of steel. The coating is applied inside the Scramjet engine, which also helps to enhance their performance and longevity. 

The Scramjet test demonstrated stable combustion, enhanced performance and advanced thermal management, setting the stage for development of next generation hypersonic missiles.

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