The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out a flight demonstration based on Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range Chandipur off the coast of Odisha at around 1030 hrs on March 05, 2021. All the subsystems, including the booster motor and nozzle-less motor, performed as expected. Successful demonstration of Solid Fuel based Ducted Ramjet technology has provided DRDO with a technological advantage which will enable it to develop long range air-to-air missiles. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated the scientistsof DRDO,Indian Air Force and the Industry on the successful flight test of SFDR. Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy also congratulated the team involved in the successful flight test.
At present, such technology is available only with a handful of countries in the world. During the test, air launch scenario was simulated using a booster motor. Many new technologies were proven, including Solid Fuel based Ducted Ramjet technology. Subsequently, the nozzle-less booster accelerated it to the required Mach number for Ramjet operation. The performance of the missile was monitored using the data captured by Electro Optical, Radar and Telemetry instruments deployed by ITR and confirmed successful demonstration of the mission objectives. The launch was monitored by senior scientists of various DRDO labs, including Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL).
