Rajnath Singh inaugurated India’s first Hypersonic Wind Tunnel in Hyderabad.

By Ishank Katyal

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday inaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility Hyderabad, making India the third country after the US and Russia to have such a facility.

The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is “pressure vacuum driven enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 metre and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12 (Mach represents the multiplication factor to the speed of sound)”, a defence release said.

After America and Russia, India is the third country to have such a large facility in terms of size and operating capability, it said.It is an indigenous development and an outcome of synergistic partnership with Indian industries.

The facility has the capability to “simulate hypersonic flow over a wide spectrum and will play a major role in the realization of highly complex futuristic aerospace and defence systems,” the release said.

Singh, who visited the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad during his two-day visit to the city, urged the DRDO’s scientists to make India a “Super Military Power”, thereby making India a Super Power, a defence release said.He appreciated thecontributions of DRDO Young Scientist Labs and said the DRDO needs to focus on next generation needs, including cyber security, space and artificial intelligence and evolve roadmaps.

“The immense potential available in DRDO has been a catalyst for the development of industries and defence manufacturing sector.

RM (Raksha Mantri) urged DRDO scientists to make India a Super Military Power thereby making India a Super Power,” it said.