Defence Current Affairs: Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) Technology

Officially, the SFDR technology is being developed to power the future Indian air-to-air missiles. However, the technology can even be applied to surface-to-air missiles.

About Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet Technology:

SFDR technology is a missile propulsion system that is based on the concept of the Ramjet Engine principle.

What is Ramjet?

A Ramjet is a form of the air-breathing jet engine which uses the vehicle’s forward motion in order to compress incoming air for combustion without a rotating compressor.
A Ramjet works most efficiently at supersonic speeds but they are not efficient at hypersonic speeds.

The system in SFDR utilises a solid fuelled air-breathing ramjet engine.
Unlike that of solid-propellant rockets, the Ramjet takes up oxygen from the atmosphere during the flight. Thus, it is light in weight & can carry more fuel.
The SFDR is a missile propulsion system that includes a thrust modulated ducted rocket with a decreased smoke nozzle-less missile booster.
According to IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies), this kind of propulsion system radically enhances the range with higher average speed.
In its present form, the SFDR-based missile first requires to be boosted into a high-altitude trajectory in order to simulate aircraft-launch conditions. Eventually, the nozzle-less booster fires up & guides the missile through its desired trajectory.

Background

The development of the SFDR started in the year 2013 and envisaged a five-year deadline to start actual demonstrations. The missile is being developed primarily by the DRDL (Defence Research and Development Laboratory) and RCI (Research Centre Imarat) in Hyderabad. The High Energy Material Research Laboratory (HEMRL) developed the nozzle-less booster while the ramjet engine is being developed with Russian assistance. The ground-based testing of the missile started in the year 2017.
The SFDR was tested for the first time on 30^th May 2018. This test demonstrated a nozzle-less booster for the first time in India, however, the missile had failed to activate the second ramjet engine stage during the test.
The second test of the missile took place on 8^th February 2019, where its ramjet engine was successfully tested. The missile then finally touched the ground after achieving the desired Mach number.

Significance of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)

The successful demonstration of SFDR technology will enable the DRDO to develop indigenous long-range air-to-air missiles.
At present, such kind of technology is available only in a handful of countries in the world.
The air-to-air missiles which use SFDR technology can achieve longer ranges as they don’t require oxidisers (i.e. take oxygen from the atmosphere).
The missile which is based on SFDR fly at supersonic speeds & high manoeuvrability ensures the target aircraft can’t get away.

Some recent tests which are conducted by DRDO:

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India. DRDO is responsible for carrying out IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme). Below are some recent tests by DRDO: