India's Hypersonic Plane To Fly By December 2008

The hypersonic plane, one of the most ambitious project of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is expected to be test flown by the end of 2008, a senior official said today.
"The developmental testing and prototype realisation are being pursued now before the test flight planned for the end of next year," V K Saraswat, Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO, told reporters here. The expertise available at IITs, Indian Institute of Science and other R&D laboratories in the country had been identified, integrated and networked to purse the hypersonic technologies.
The technology demonstrator will be powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet) engine that takes oxygen from the atmosphere and burns liquid hydrogen. The hypersonic plane will travel 6 to 14 times faster than the speed of sound and will revolutionize space travel. Saraswat, who is also the Chairman of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), was briefing reporters about the two-day International conference of High Speed Transatmospheric air and space transportation. The hyper-plane can take off from conventional airfields, inhale air from the atmosphere as it moves on, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere. Several countries including United States, Israel, Russia, China, Japan and Australia are engaged in research in hypersonic technology.
29/06/07 India Defence

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Categories: General Aviation Jun 2007, New Jun 2007