DRDO's Mach 8 ET-LDHCM Hypersonic Missile Under Project Vishnu Awaits Crucial MoD Funding for Testing and Full-Scale Development

India's ambitious hypersonic missile programme, Project Vishnu, is at a critical juncture, with its advanced missile system ready for testing but awaiting financial approval from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Contrary to some recent media reports suggesting a successful test had already occurred, sources have clarified that the project has not yet reached the trial phase.

The programme is developing the Extended Trajectory Long Duration Hypersonic Cruise Missile (ET-LDHCM), a weapon designed to travel at speeds up to Mach8, or approximately 9,900 kilometres per hour, over a range of 1,500 kilometres.

This places India in a race to join an exclusive group of nations, including the United States, Russia, and China, that are developing operational hypersonic weapon systems.

The ET-LDHCM is engineered to be powered by an advanced scramjet engine. Unlike conventional rocket engines that carry their own oxygen, a scramjet is an air-breathing engine that pulls oxygen from the atmosphere, allowing it to sustain hypersonic speeds for longer durations.

The DRDO has already proven the engine's capability through a successful 1,000-second ground test, a significant milestone demonstrating its readiness for flight. The missile is also designed to withstand extreme temperatures of up to 2,000°C generated during high-speed flight.

Despite this technological progress, the DRDO Chief confirmed last month that the programme requires official sanction of funds to proceed.

This approval, typically cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security for projects of this scale, is essential to move from technology demonstration to the fabrication, integration, and flight testing of a full-scale missile.

While logistical preparations are underway, evidenced by recent tenders for integration equipment, the project remains paused ahead of its testing phase.

The strategic importance of the ET-LDHCM is immense. It is designed for launch from land, air, and sea platforms, providing significant operational flexibility.

Capable of carrying a conventional or nuclear warhead weighing between 1,000 and 2,000 kg, its primary advantage is its ability to evade enemy air defence systems.

By flying at low altitudes and executing mid-flight manoeuvres, the missile would be nearly impossible to intercept, strengthening India's strategic deterrence against potential adversaries.

The ET-LDHCM builds on the knowledge gained from the successful Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) test in 2020. It represents a transformative leap over India's existing cruise missile, the BrahMos, which operates at speeds of approximately Mach2.8.

Beyond its military applications, the technology developed under Project Vishnu could have future civilian uses, such as reducing the cost of satellite launches, and will continue to foster innovation within India's domestic defence and manufacturing sectors.

 

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[Sandeep]

This is a critical requirement that all three services need and should get it urgently. We need to quickly and 100% indigenously design, develop and manufacture it from local raw materials. We need to quickly complete developing it and increase its range so that it can cover most of Asia.

Also our hydrogen warhead needs to become a much larger and more powerful warhead so we can destroy China’s major mega cities completely if we needed to.

 

[pgahlot]

Again waiting from MOD to take step and finalise with release of funds. They delay and later all start saying that we are lacking behind.
Another point is we need to focus on an ADS to counter hypersonic missiles as well.

 

[Ashish Vatsa]

Project VISHNU is a top-class secret project undertaken by DRDO, like KALI. Although KALI was more secretive in nature, much information is not available to date. But it is a huge achievement by DRDO, we must appreciate, like the development of GAN radar technology, which is again confined to India's defence forces, as most other nations are in the developing process while we are already in integration. Secondly, regarding the hypersonic cruise missiles program, except for Russia and India, no other country has conducted such a test. Countries like China only have HGVs, which they have tested, while work on hypersonic cruise missiles is going on.