Why India’s new hypersonic missile may outrun Israel's Iron Dome and Russia's S-500 and shift the balance in Asia

India has tested its most advanced missile yet, the ET-LDHCM, which can fly at Mach 8 and hit targets 1,500 km away. Developed under DRDOs secretive Project Vishnu, it uses a scramjet engine, carries nuclear or conventional warheads, and can be launched from land, sea or air. With regional tensions high, India joins an elite club of nations with indigenous hypersonic capability. The missile may shift the strategic balance in South Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific.