The paper presents experimental and theoretical studies on hypersonic flows with Mach numbers M > 10 and the development of hydrodynamic instabilities in a laser-driven shock tube (LDST) under the interaction of GARPUN KrF laser pulses (100 J, 100 ns) with thin-film targets of 0.3 to 20 μm thickness. The findings establish the LDST as a novel experimental tool in a niche between conventional gas-dynamic shock tubes and large laser facilities used in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The LDST can be employed for the laboratory modeling of instabilities relevant to ICF and astrophysical phenomena, as well as for verification of multidimensional numerical codes being used for simulations of the compression of spherical shell targets in ICF experiments.