India fires a 1200 second scramjet test that could turbocharge its hypersonic cruise missile plans

A combustor run lasted 20 minutes uninterrupted

DRDO’s DRDL has completed a long-duration test of an actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor at Hyderabad, running for over 1,200 seconds. The result validates indigenous air-breathing propulsion, including an endothermic liquid hydrocarbon fuel and high-temperature thermal coatings capable of handling extreme heat loads—an essential step toward deployable hypersonic cruise missiles.