In a rocket-sled test, the system coupled with a rocket propulsion mechanism is run at a high speed on a pair of rails to simulate a moving aircraft in mid-air, a senior official told the PTI

Defence Minster Rajnath Singh complimented the DRDO, IAF, Aeronautical Development Agency, and HAL on the successful test

Rajnath Singh described it as a significant milestone for India's indigenous defence capability towards self-reliance

"Defence Research and Development Organization (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, conducted at a rail track rocket sled facility in Chandigarh, was conducted in collaboration with Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and it propelled India into "an elite club of nations" with advanced in-house escape system testing capability, the ministry said in a statement