DRDO successfully flight-tests Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology

Context

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully flight-tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

About Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)

• The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds. 
  • The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of range instruments like Telemetry, Radar and Electro-Optical Tracking Systems deployed by ITR.
• SFDR aims to develop critical technologies required in the propulsion systems of future long-range air-to-air missiles.
• The system is based on a solid fuelled air-breathing ramjet engine. Unlike the other solid-propellant rockets, the Ramjet takes up oxygen from the atmosphere during flight without the need for cylinders. 
  • Due to this, it is light in weight and can carry more fuel, making it more efficient.
• The SFDR has been developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories such as Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune.

About Ramjet

• It is a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the engine’s forward motion to compress incoming air without an axial compressor or a centrifugal compressor.
  • Because ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed, they cannot move an aircraft from a standstill.
• A ramjet-powered vehicle, therefore, requires an assisted take-off like a rocket assist to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust. 
  • Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3. 

Significance 

• Firstly, it enables the missiles to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds. 
• Secondly, it has provided DRDO with a technological advantage that will enable it to develop long-range air-to-air missiles. 
  • At present, such technology is available only with a handful of countries in the world.