The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has begun to manufacture a hypersonic weapon, which is capable of travelling five times faster than the speed of sound, reports Hindustan Times.

According to a senior government official, who did not wish to be named, a wind tunnel to test and fine tune the technology is going to be operational soon. He also told that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will soon inaugurate the facility for the development of the technology.

“A hypersonic weapon system is one of the many niche technologies we are exploring seriously,” another official said, on the condition of anonymity.

A race to possess hypersonic weapons technology has been rising across the globe. The United States, Russia, and China have already been testing this “next-generation” weapon system in order to improve their strategic nuclear deterrence and strengthen their front-line combat units.

“Hypersonic weapons will become very critical in the near future. China has demonstrated that it has the technology. Others like (the) US and Russia may already possess such weapons. It is time that India also starts looking at these technologies,” said former Director General of Military Operations, Lieutenant General (retd) Vinod Bhatia.

Capable of carrying conventional or nuclear payloads at extremely high speeds, hypersonic weapons provide increased survivability against modern ballistic missile defence systems.

Although the existing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) also deliver payloads at super-fast speeds, the hypersonic glide vehicles can make tracking and interception nearly impossible.