CENTRE FOR AIR POWER STUDIES

Tracking the Progress India’s interest in the hypersonic domain can be traced back to the year 2007 when former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam while commencing the delivery of the BrahMos missile system to the Army, mooted the idea of having a Mark-II version of BrahMos hypersonic cruise missile.4 Then, in September 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Russia. [...] The 2009 MoU essentially paved the way for the realisation of what would be the final parameters of the new version of the BrahMos missile. [...] For the 2020 HSTDV test, the solid motor of the Agni-I ballistic missile was used as a launch vehicle. [...] But there are question marks on the subsequent performance of the scramjet engines of the HSTDV, for which the data has to be analysed in detail.”12 Conclusion The use of hypersonic technology in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has generated increased interest among nations regarding developing similar technologies. [...] China is one of the pioneers in the hypersonic arena and has already deployed the DF-17 HGV-armed Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM).