Amid Tejas crash at Dubai Airshow, DRDO successfully tests high-speed rocket-sled escape system

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday successfully conducted a high-speed rocket-sled test of a fighter aircraft escape system.

The test took place at the Rail Track Rocket Sled facility of Chandigarh's Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, and it validated canopy severance, ejection sequencing, and complete aircrew recovery. It was done in collaboration with Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This complex dynamic test places India in an elite club of nations with advanced in-house escape system testing capability.

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Dynamic ejection tests tend to be very complex, and they are a true metric to evaluate ejection seat performance and the efficacy of the canopy severance system. According to a PIB statement, "a dual-sled system with the LCA aircraft forebody was propelled to precisely controlled velocity through phased firing of multiple solid propellant rocket motors."

It added, "The canopy fragilisation pattern, ejection sequencing and complete aircrew recovery process was simulated using an instrumented Anthropomorphic Test Dummy, which recorded critical loads, moments, and accelerations that would be experienced by ejected pilots." Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented DRDO, IAF, ADA, HAL, and industry on the successful test and described it as a historic moment in the country's path towards self-reliance in the defence sector.