India tests its first long-range hypersonic missile

“India has achieved a major milestone by successfully testing a long-range hypersonic missile.“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a statement this Sunday (11/17/2024). The country, which has nuclear weapons, carried out a test of its first missile of these characteristics a few days after its rival China exhibited its latest advances in military aviation.

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) carried out flight test from Abdul Kalam Island -formerly known as Wheeler Island- on the eastern coast of this country, where India has a missile testing center. The missile is designed to carry payloads and has a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. According to the statement, the long-range hypersonic missile was tracked by several ranging systems.

The missile was developed in the laboratories of the Dr. APJ Abdul Karam missile complexas well as by other DRDO laboratories and industrial partners, the Ministry of Defense detailed. These weapons are considered the new frontier in missile technology because they fly low and are more difficult to detect than ballistic missiles, can reach their targets faster and even change targets in mid-flight. The United States, Russia, China and North Korea have tested hypersonic missiles and several others, such as Irancountries are developing this technology.

Singh called the launch an “important milestone” in a message on his official profile on the social network such critical and advanced military capabilities,” Singh said. In 2020, India successfully tested another hypersonic flying device, intended for civil and military use and capable of reaching 7,300 km/h. Until now, this type of missile has only been used by Russia against Ukraine.

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