RAS question
DRDO's Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) was successfully tested in:
Correct answer: (D) 2020.
DRDO's Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle was successfully flight-tested on 7 September 2020.
Explanation
DRDO successfully flight-tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle on 7 September 2020 from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast. The PIB release records that the vehicle demonstrated hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology: after launch by a solid rocket motor, the cruise vehicle separated, its air intake opened as planned, and combustion was sustained. It flew at about six times the speed of sound, nearly 2 km per second, for more than 20 seconds. That is why 2020 is the answer, not an earlier trial year. The broader significance was that India joined the USA, Russia and China in demonstrating hypersonic technology, opening the path for advanced hypersonic vehicles and missiles.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 2016 is too early because the successful HSTDV flight test described in the official PIB release took place on 7 September 2020.
- (B) 2018 does not match the successful test asked here; the 2018 event was only a partial test, while the confirmed successful demonstration was in 2020.
- (C) 2022 is after the successful demonstration recorded by PIB, which had already taken place on 7 September 2020.
Concept
This tests the Science and Technology portion of the RAS syllabus, especially defence technology and Indian strategic programmes. It recurs because hypersonic systems combine current affairs with basic propulsion concepts such as scramjet-based air-breathing flight.