Breaking news
Paramount Group's AHRLAC reached milestone of 50 hours of successful incident-free test flying.
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World Industry Defense & Security News - Paramount Group |
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| Paramount Group's AHRLAC reached milestone of 50 hours of successful incident-free test flying | |||||
Paramount
Group, Africa’s largest privately-owned defence and aerospace company,
has announced that its AHRLAC (Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance
Light Aircraft), has reached a milestone of 50 hours of successful incident-free
test flying. |
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Paramount Group's Advanced High performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (AHRLAC) first public display at AAD 2014 |
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AHRLAC,
the first military manned fixed wing aircraft to be fully designed, tested
and developed in Africa, has undertaken more than 55 flights since its
first flight during July this year. The vigorous flight test programme
is expanding the flight envelope in key areas of the aircraft’s
performance including handling qualities, airframe systems, centre of
gravity, performance ranges and rough field capabilities.
Paramount Group Executive Chairperson, Ivor Ichikowitz, says: “This is a proud moment for Paramount and the AHRLAC team of engineers and technicians who have invested so much of their creativity, energy and ‘can-do’ mentality to develop this unique aircraft. But it is also a proud moment for South Africa and the rest of the African continent to showcase our aerospace capability through innovative design, technologies and manufacturing processes.” Blokkies Joubert, test flight team leader says that the aircraft has proven itself to be a highly reliable aircraft with a truly rugged, solid feel which is a testament to its high build quality. “The aircraft’s performance has matched all our initial predictions very closely and its systems have performed as they should. AHRLAC has shown itself to be predictable, intuitive and easy to fly, a true testament to the aerodynamic work done in the early stages of development. Control inputs in flight are light and direct, with a very accurate and quick response.” says Joubert. The aircraft addresses a key industry need by performing the combined tasks that previously required four separately configured aircraft. It integrates designs from surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to carry surveillance, weapons, radar and electronic warfare systems. This has brought advanced operational solutions, historically requiring more costly aircraft or complex unmanned aerial surveillance systems. |
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Paramount Group's Advanced
High performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (AHRLAC) |
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Joubert
added: “Operationally, the aircraft is extremely reliable and
ease to fly and maintain. AHRLAC’s predictable nature, remarkable
exterior view and the ease with which it responds are outstanding features.
Every member of the development team believes that AHRLAC is the best
answer to the problems it was designed to solve. The first 50 flight hours
thus far have reinforced this.”
AHRLAC is a ground-breaking example of what Africa is capable of producing and will be a key solution to bolster Africa’s capability to deal with its security issues. However, AHRLAC is not only a solution for Africa, but for defence forces around the world, whether from developing countries or from nations with advanced and sophisticated defence capabilities. The aircraft was designed and built by a team of 60 engineers and technicians. One of the most innovative aspects of the construction phase is that 98% of all 6 000 parts of the airframe were designed and produced locally by the engineering team. Since the launch of the project in September 2011, the team spent 315 000 labour hours completing detailed designs and manufacturing the first prototype. “AHRLAC is creating the next generation of engineers on the continent, and is an excellent reflection of the capabilities of the African engineers. There are a number of skills challenges in South Africa and beyond our borders, but the incredible progress made by local engineers has put them at the forefront of global aerospace innovation. Their joint expertise has turned them into pathfinders, who are proudly setting new milestones, through continuous innovation that we can export to the world,” concludes Ichikowitz. |
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