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 on March 05, 2021.
- The Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology is crucial for the indigenous development of long range air-to-air missiles.
- With this Solid Fuel based Ducted Ramjet technological advantage, DRDO will be enabled to develop long range air-to-air missiles.
- At present, such technology is available only with a handful of countries in the world.
- The missile, using the SFDR technology, accelerated to reach multiples of the speed of sound, also known as Mach.
- Air-to-air missiles which use SFDR technology can achieve longer ranges as they do not require oxidisers, among other reasons.
About ramjets
- According to the NASA, Ramjets are lighter and simpler than a turbojet.
- Ramjets produce thrust only when the vehicle is already moving; ramjets cannot produce thrust when the engine is stationary or static.
- Since a ramjet cannot produce static thrust, some other propulsion system must be used to accelerate the vehicle to a speed where the ramjet begins to produce thrust.
- The higher the speed of the vehicle, the better a ramjet works until aerodynamic losses become a dominant factor.
(Source: NASA and PIB)
