BLOODHOUND SSC displayed at the British Council in New Delhi

In a bid to entice Indian students to colleges and universities in the U.K. and to showcase the country’s world-class engineering and innovation expertise, the British Council unveiled the BLOODHOUND Show Car in New Delhi. As part of the ‘GREAT BRITAIN’ campaign, the BLOODHOUND was displayed by Richard Everitt, Director Education, British Council India, Iain Gray, Chief Executive Officer of the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK and BLOODHOUND SSC Pilot, Wing Commander Andy D. Green.

The supersonic car is meant to break the previous land speed record and is theoretically capable of breaching the 1000mph (1600kmph) barrier. At full speed, BLOODHOUND SSC can cover a mile (1.6km) in just 3.6 seconds thanks to a mix of car and aircraft technology, with the front half being a carbon fibre monocoque, and the back half being a metallic framework and panels like an aircraft.

BLOODHOUND SSC has a slender body where the outer body has been made using the Tata Steel and is approximately 14m in length with two front wheels within the body and two rear wheels mounted externally within wheel fairings. It weighs over 7 tonnes and the engines produce more than 135,000 horsepower — more than 6 times the power of all the Formula 1 cars on a starting grid put together!

The supersonic car project is meant to bring inspiration to the young generation to pursue higher education in science, technology, engineering and math courses, and later careers in those fields. Over 5600 schools in the U.K. are participating in the BLOODHOUND project, and its unveil in India is meant to woo Indian students.

On November 15, the British Council has also organised the Education UK Exhibition in New Delhi to provide information on undergraduate, postgraduate or research programmes in the UK, and also give information to aspiring students and parents on student life and culture.

“We are delighted to bring the BLOODHOUND Super Sonic Car to India, which represents the alignment of UK education, innovation and technology at its very best. We welcome Indian students in the UK to gain internationally recognised qualifications from our top-ranking global institutions. For Indian students aspiring to take this opportunity, we are hosting the GREAT UK Education Exhibition in New Delhithis Saturday and Sunday. To support Indian students, we also have over 400 scholarships on offer for almost 60 courses across the UK,” Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India.

Speaking at the showcase event in New Delhi, Andy Green, RAF fighter pilot, World Land Speed Record holder and pilot of BLOODHOUND SSC said, “Project BLOODHOUND is a thrilling piece of British technology, aiming to raise the World Land Speed Record to over 1600 kph. I really hope that this ‘Engineering Adventure’ will inspire Indian students to benefit from the world-class UK courses on offer in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”