Why in news?

At the 77th Republic Day Parade on Kartavya Path, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) unveiled the Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM) for the first time.

This draws attention to other hypersonic missile programmes under development, signalling India’s growing focus on next-generation strategic and tactical weaponry.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• LR-AShM: India’s Hypersonic Glide Missile
• Strategic Significance and Road Ahead of LR-AShM
• India’s Other Hypersonic Cruise Missile Efforts
• Ramjets vs Scramjets

LR-AShM: India’s Hypersonic Glide Missile

• The DRDO showcased the Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM) along with its launcher.
• The system is tailored to meet the Indian Navy’s coastal battery requirements and can engage both static and moving targets at ranges of up to 1,500 km, carrying multiple payload options.
• Quasi-Ballistic, Hypersonic Flight Profile
  • The LR-AShM follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory, beginning like a ballistic missile but flying at lower altitudes and manoeuvring mid-course.
  • It reaches hypersonic speeds of Mach 10 initially and sustains average speeds of Mach 5, using multiple atmospheric skips to evade interception.
• Low Detectability and High Survivability
  • Flying at low altitude with extreme speed and manoeuvrability, the missile remains largely undetectable to enemy ground- and ship-based radars.
  • Its flight profile significantly reduces reaction time for adversary air-defence systems.
• Two-Stage Propulsion and Glide Phase
  • The missile uses a two-stage solid rocket motor.
  • Stage I boosts the missile to hypersonic velocity and then separates.
  • After Stage II burnout, the vehicle enters an unpowered hypersonic glide phase, executing controlled manoeuvres within the atmosphere before striking the target.
• High Aerodynamic Efficiency
  • According to DRDO scientists, the LR-AShM has high aerodynamic efficiency, enabling it to generate effective lift with minimal drag.
  • This allows the missile to travel farther, faster, and more accurately using the same energy, enhancing its operational effectiveness.

Strategic Significance and Road Ahead of LR-AShM

• The hypersonic speed of the LR-AShM makes detection and interception extremely difficult.
• Travelling at such velocities, it can cover a 1,500 km range in about 15 minutes, sharply reducing enemy reaction time.
  • Extended-range variants of up to 3,500 km are already under development.
• Boost to Sea Denial Capabilities
  • The missile can neutralise all classes of warships.
  • Current and future variants are expected to become a critical asset for sea denial operations, especially in the strategically vital Indian Ocean Region, limiting an adversary’s military and commercial use of maritime spaces.
• Multi-Service and Multi-Platform Potential
  • Beyond the Navy’s coastal batteries, Army and Air Force versions are under consideration, along with ship-launched variants.
  • This versatility across platforms could firmly place India among a small group of nations with advanced hypersonic weapons capability.
• Leveraging Proven Missile Technologies
  • The LR-AShM draws on key technologies from India’s existing missile programmes, including the K-15 (Sagarika) from the K-missile family and the BrahMos Aerospace supersonic cruise missile.
  • This reflects a convergence of proven propulsion and guidance systems into a next-generation hypersonic platform.

India’s Other Hypersonic Cruise Missile Efforts

• Amid intense global competition, the DRDO is pursuing two parallel hypersonic paths: hypersonic glide and hypersonic cruise.
  • A Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV) is launched via rocket into high altitudes, then detaches to glide and maneuver through the atmosphere at speeds exceeding Mach 5.
  • Unlike glide vehicles, hypersonic cruise missiles fly within the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds and rely on scramjet engines for sustained, powered flight and high manoeuvrability.
• The LR-AShM represents the glide vehicle track, showcasing major indigenous advances in materials and control systems for sustained hypersonic flight.

Ramjets vs Scramjets

• Ramjets are air-breathing engines that compress incoming air using forward motion; they need assisted take-off and work best around Mach 3, losing efficiency at hypersonic speeds.
• Scramjets keep airflow supersonic in the combustion chamber, enabling efficient operation above Mach 5, but are far more complex to design and operate.
• Recent Breakthrough: Full-Scale Scramjet Testing
  • Earlier this month, DRDO achieved a major milestone by conducting ground tests of an Actively Cooled Scramjet Full-Scale Combustor, recording a run time of over 12 minutes.
  • This built on a successful subscale test conducted on April 25 last year that ran for more than 1,000 seconds.
  • DRDO had earlier demonstrated hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle flight test in September 2020 from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex.
  • This marked a foundational step toward operational hypersonic cruise missiles.