India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group

India said on Sunday that it had successfully tested a domestically developed long-range hypersonic missile, attaining a key milestone in military development that puts it in a small group of nations possessing the advanced technology.

The global push for hypersonic weapons figures in the efforts of some countries, such as India, which is striving to develop advanced long-range missiles, along with China, Russia and the United States.

The Indian missile, developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation and industry partners, is designed to carry payloads for the armed forces at ranges exceeding 1,500 km (930 miles), the government said in a statement.

“The flight data … confirmed the successful terminal manoeuvres and impact with high degree of accuracy,” it added.

The test-firing took place from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the eastern coast of Odisha state on Saturday, it said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the test a “historic achievement” in a post on X, adding that it placed India among a select group of nations possessing such critical and advanced technologies.