Production of SA military aircraft ready for takeoff
SOUTH African defence company Paramount is due to start producing its multipurpose reconnaissance military aircraft within 14 months to meet the huge market demand for the plane.
Paramount’s Advanced HighPerformance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft made its first public flight at Pretoria’s Wonderboom Airport last week with its prototype model.
The company said the plane was the first military fixed-wing aircraft to be fully designed and made in Africa‚ with the entire project being privately funded.
Paramount executive chairman Ivor Ichikowitz said there was a huge amount of interest from all over the world, including customers in the Middle East‚ Southeast Asia‚ Africa‚ South America “and even sophisticated markets in Europe”.
The group punts the plane as a global first‚ integrating designs from attack helicopters‚ surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft to combine the capabilities of numerous aircraft.
Ichikowitz said the aircraft could play a big role in antipoaching efforts‚ as well as other uses such as border protection‚ search and rescue‚ and military operations.
The aircraft has 90% local content‚ with only the engine and propeller sourced outside South Africa.
Paramount also said it was looking for a suitable production site‚ and was hoping the project would contribute to the realisation of the company’s long-proposed idea of a Centurion Aerospace Village.
The desired site would be an innovation park or aviation and aerospace hub for Africa by Paramount’s Aerosud associate company‚ Ichikowitz said.
“I’m hopeful we will have constructive engagement with the government to get to a point where the Centurion Aerospace Village becomes a reality.”
Ichikowitz said Paramount would collaborate closely with state-owned defence group Denel as it developed the mission systems for the aircraft. – BDlive