The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a technology in what could be the basis for future air to air, surface to air and air to ground missiles. Project SFDR, which stands for Solid Fuel Ducted Rocket or a solid booster cum Ramjet propulsion, is being worked upon by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) lab for some years now and it had even called tenders for manufacturing the launcher way back in 2015. The SFDR will be attached with a solid booster to initially propel it to speeds at which it can start operating.

MBDA’s Meteor, DRDO SFDR
Most current missiles use a booster/sustainer configuration with solid or liquid propellants. The booster stage propels them to top speeds after which the sustainer sustains the missile velocity for some time before complete burnout after which they glide towards the target. While this is a simple and tested means, it has limitations of maximum engagement ranges especially against manoeuvring targets which can bleed the energy of conventional missiles.