Rajnath Singh inaugurates India’s first hypersonic wind tunnel in Hyderabad

PTI, Dec 20, 2020, 7:56 AM IST

Hyderabad: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday inaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility here, making India the third country after the US and Russia to have such a facility.

The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is “pressure vacuum-driven enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 metre and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12 (Mach represents the multiplication factor to the speed of sound)”, a defence release said.

After America and Russia, India is the third country to have such a large facility in terms of size and operating capability, it said.

It is an indigenous development and an outcome of a synergistic partnership with Indian industries.

The facility has the capability to “simulate hypersonic flow over a wide spectrum and will play a major role in the realization of highly complex futuristic aerospace and defence systems,” the release said.

Singh, who visited the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex here during his two-day visit to the city, urged the DRDO’s scientists to make India a “Super Military Power,” thereby making India a Super Power, a defence release said.

He appreciated the contributions of DRDO Young Scientist Labs and said the DRDO needs to focus on next-generation needs, including cybersecurity, space and artificial intelligence and evolve roadmaps.

“The immense potential available in DRDO has been a catalyst for the development of industries and defence manufacturing sector. RM (Raksha Mantri) urged DRDO scientists to make India a Super Military Power thereby making India a Super Power,” it said.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy and DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy accompanied Singh during the visit.

The release said Lab Directors, Cluster DGs and Programme Directors briefed the dignitaries about the ongoing projects and technological developments.

Hyderabad-based DRDO labs showcased various indigenously developed systems and technologies in wide-ranging areas including missiles, avionics systems, advanced materials, electronic warfare, quantum key distribution technology, directed energy weapons, Gallium Arsenide and Gallium Nitride technology capabilities.

Two anti-drone technologies were demonstrated by DRDO labs to Singh, it said.

The Defence Minister, who addressed the DRDO fraternity, applauded the recent series of successful missions and technological achievements by various clusters of the organisation.

This included the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV), Anti-Radiation Missile (RUDRAM), Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM), Supersonic Missile Assisted Release Torpedo (SMART) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology during the last six months, it said.