The DRDO successfully carried out a high-speed rocket sled test of a fighter aircraft escape system at a controlled velocity, and this confirmed important safety standards, including complete aircrew recovery.

The test has placed India in "an elite club of nations" with advanced in-house escape system testing capability, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

In a rocket sled test, the system that is fixed to a rocket propulsion setup is run at a very high speed on a pair of rails to copy the conditions of an aircraft moving in mid-air, a senior official said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the DRDO, the Indian Air Force, the Aeronautical Development Agency and HAL for the successful test, and he said it was an important achievement for India’s own defence capability and for the effort towards self-reliance.

"Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted a high-speed rocket-sled test of fighter aircraft escape system at precisely controlled velocity of 800 km/h- validating canopy severance, ejection sequencing and complete aircrew-recovery at Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh," the defence minister's office said in a post on X.

The complex dynamic test, which took place at a rail track rocket sled facility in Chandigarh, was done with the support of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADE) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and it pushed India into "an elite club of nations" with advanced in-house escape system testing capability, the ministry said in a 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 said.

The test was watched by officials from the Indian Air Force and the Institute of Aerospace Medicine.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation has "conducted a successful high-speed rocket-sled test of fighter aircraft escape system at controlled velocity," the ministry said.

"The test at the rail track rocket sled facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, Chandigarh, validated canopy severance, ejection sequencing and complete aircrew-recovery," the ministry said.

It also said "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".

The full sequence was captured through onboard and ground-based imaging systems.

"Dynamic ejection tests are significantly more complex than static tests such as 'net test' or 'zero-zero test', and real measure for evaluating ejection seat performance and efficacy of canopy severance system," the ministry said. Department of Defence R&D Secretary and DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat also congratulated the DRDO team that carried out the successful demonstration.