DRDO's Emerging Weapons - Hypersonics & Lasers

In 2025 DRDO logged a run of firsts that sketch the next shape of India's arsenal: a scramjet combustor that burned for more than 1,000 seconds on the ground, a truck-mounted 30-kilowatt laser that swatted drones out of the air, and a stratospheric airship that lifted a payload to the edge of the atmosphere. Each opens a different frontier - hypersonic cruise missiles flying at over five times the speed of sound, directed-energy defence against drone swarms, and persistent high-altitude surveillance. This card pulls the three programmes together and sets out what each milestone actually proved.