In the contemporary global power competition, the term hypersonic has emerged as a new buzzword. All military powers, even less technologically advanced states like Iran and North Korea, with tech giants like the US and Russia, are in a rush to attain mastery of hypersonic technology. Moreover, the employment of hypersonic missiles by Russia against Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spurred international interest in this novel technology. Similarly, India joined the race and is deeply interested in developing and maturing indigenous hypersonic technology. The interest in hypersonic weapons originates from the gradual Indian adaptation to a counter-force doctrine that neutralises adversarial strategic targets. To accomplish this, recently, the “Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K)” successfully established and also tested a trial run of India’s first Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel Test Facility, codenamed S2, in February 2024 (Tripathi, 2024). Establishing such a critical facility will boost Indian aerospace research capabilities, eventually enabling the Indian defence industry to build cutting-edge domestic missile systems. The boosted strike capabilities will negatively impact the region as the current development will erode the existing strategic stability.
Comprehending Hypersonic Technology
The technology refers to the projectiles travelling at speeds exceeding Mach 5. It is divided into “Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV)” and “Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM)” systems. An HGV is a glide vehicle, initially propelled by a rocket, to reach the upper atmosphere realm and, once it re-enters into Earth’s atmosphere, glides for the rest of the way towards its destination at a speed up to 27 km per hour (Ali, 2023). Similarly, the HCM’s initial mechanism is the same, but once it enters the terminal phase, the HCM is propelled by air-breathing engines, or scramjets, which assist them in reaching their targets at hypersonic speeds (IIT Kanpur, 2024). Besides travelling at high speed, they retain characteristics such as manoeuvrability and rudimentary to avoid interception by adversarial missile defences. Compared to ballistic missiles, this makes them unique as they travel on predictable ballistic trajectories. Further, Hypersonic weapons can fly at low altitudes with brisk speed and manoeuvrability, making them potent against heavily defended military strategic installations.
The Building and Examination
The S2, or “Jigarthanda”, is a 24-meter-long structure housed in the Department of Aerospace Engineering’s Hypersonic Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory (HEAL) at IIT Kanpur. The latest hypersonic wind tunnel S2 at Kanpur can produce flight speeds of 3 to 10 km/s, enabling it to simulate the conditions that normally hypersonic or ballistic projectiles have to encounter after they enter the Earth’s atmosphere from space. Besides this, the Indian scientists claimed that they overcame the difficult and crucial task of “perfecting the free piston driver system” (IIT Kanpur, 2024). This enabled the Indian scientists to rigorously test the hypersonic models. It is essential to test the prototype models earlier and rectify any malfunctions to avoid system failures once they are operationally employed against the adversary. The achievement demonstrates that India can undoubtedly manufacture hypersonic missiles because this allows them to have in-depth knowledge of precision engineering and physics, requiring Thermo-structural modelling of high-temperature materials separation mechanism at hypersonic velocities; aerodynamic arrangement for hypersonic maneuvers; utilization of scramjet propulsion for ignition and continuous burning at the hypersonic (Ministry of Defence, 2020).
Monitoring the Development
India, since 2007, has been showing its interest in hypersonic technology when APJ Abdul Kalam, the ’ ’country’s former president, suggested developing a Mark-II version of the BrahMos hypersonic cruise missile (Kalam ask, 2007). Subsequently, in September 2009, Russia and India signed an agreement to manufacture a more advanced BrahMos missile with hypersonic speed. It was named BrahMos-2 an updated version of BrahMos-1(India Russia, 2009). Specifications of BrahMos-2 are mentioned below:
- BrahMos-2 will use a hypersonic scramjet as its foundation.
- It is primarily intended to strike closely guarded installations and underground enemy nuclear bunkers lying deeply below the thick layers of reinforced concrete. (Brahmos Aerospace, 2009).
Besides manufacturing a version, India successfully tested a scramjet engine that can run at Mach 5 speeds and higher in 2016 (ISRO’s Scramjet, 2016). The technology differs from conventional subsonic or ramjet engines, employing an inlet force in supersonic compressed air before combining it with hydrogen fuel (Njuguna, 2016). This test assisted India in enhancing its scramjet capabilities, and later on, India tested its Indigenous hypersonic technology demonstration vehicles (HSTDV) in 2019 and 2020 consecutively. The tested hypersonic demonstrator was propelled by a scramjet engine (Pandit, 2020). However, only a”” “powered flight duration of 20 seconds at an altitude of 31 km at Mach 6””” was accomplished by the 2020 HSTDV test.
The third HSTDV was tested in 2023 to check the various scientific and technical parameters. Whether or not the third test was successful is unclear. It was estimated by Janes that the test would have lasted for ten minutes of sustained flight while the delivery system carried a payload ranging between 200 and 300 kg. (Kajal, 2023). These were public estimates because the test specifications were not disclosed by the Indian government. On the other hand, publicly available information said that the first launch and take-off was successful. Lastly, Indian media raised doubts about the efficacy of HSTDV scramjet engine performance, which requires a thorough analysis of the data in future (Pandit, 2023). However, with the pace at which India is moving ahead, it will likely develop and deploy the system earlier, given its previous expertise in manufacturing ballistic missiles.
For instance, the parent company manufacturing the Brahmos missile claimed that If we want a hypersonic missile, it will take only eight years to develop it after the ’ ’government’s approval, declared the BrahMos Aerospace Corporation in 2023 (Negi, 2023). This statement implies that India is thinking of rolling out hypersonic weapons soon.
Conclusively, the Indian advancements in the hypersonic field reaffirmed that India is serious about hypersonic weapons development and deployment. Once developed, the hypersonic weapons will enable India to rapidly strike targets in Pakistan with greater precision than before, which can lead towards India opting for First-Strike to disarm Pakistan. The recent gradual transformation from counter-force to Countervalue doctrine suggests that this notion can become a reality. Finally, India is not lagging behind in building a spree of high-end strike weapons, even at the cost of risking regional peace.
References:
Ali, A. (2023, September 26). Global Arms Race for Hypersonic Missiles must be halted. https://thesvi.org/as-russia-china-and-the-us-pursue-hypersonic-missiles-a-global-non-proliferation-treaty-is-needed/
Brahmos Aerospace. (2009, August 03). India to develop BrahMos-II missile. https://brahmos.com/newscenter.php?newsid=95
IIT Kanpur. (2024, February 05). IIT Kanpur achieves major milestone with India’s First Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel Test Facility. https://www.iitk.ac.in/new/hypervelocity-expansion-tunnel-test-facility
India, Russia to develop new hypersonic cruise missile (2020, October 9). The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/latest-news/india-russia-to-develop-new-hypersonic-cruise-missile/
Kalam asks BrahMos team to develop ‘Mark-II’ version. (2007, June 21). Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/kalam-asks-brahmos-team-to-develop-mark-ii-version/story-4v5htemS0MfLQT5oGU7w3L.html
Kajal, K. (2023, February 02). India test-flies Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle. Janes. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/india-test-flies-hypersonic-technology-demonstrator-vehicle
Ministry of Defence (2020, September 07). DRDO successfully flight tests Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle. Ministry of Defence. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1651956
Negi, M. (2023, February 21). India can develop hypersonic missiles in 8 yrs post govt nod: BrahMos Aerospace. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/can-develop-hypersonic-missiles-within-eight-years-brahmos-aerospace-2337780-2023-02-21
Njuguna, J. (ed.), (2016). Lightweight Composite Structures in Transport: Design, Manufacturing, Analysis and Performance. Oxford: Woodhead Publishing.
Pandit, R. (2023, January 28). India conducts another test in a bid to develop hypersonic weapons. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-conducts-another-test-in-a-bid-to-develop-hypersonic-weapons/articleshow/97389386.cms
Pandit, R. (2020, September 8). India successfully test scramjet technology for hypersonic missiles,” The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-successfully-test-scramjet-technology-for-hypersonic-missiles/articleshow/77973889.cms
Tripathi, S. K. (2024, February 05). Hypervelocity facility at IIT Kanpur: How it will propel India’s high–speed dreams. India Today.https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/hypervelocity-facility-at-iit-kanpur-how-it-will-propel-indias-high-speed-dreams-2497864-2024-02-05
