Free Republic

The South African built AHRLAC aircraft has been unveiled as a bidding competitor in the race for the United States Air Force’s Bronco II light attack aircraft contract. The aircraft, which was designed and built in South Africa has seen promising development since it’s first flight in 2014, and this latest announcement confirms that the Paramount Group is making good strides towards being a serious competitor on the international stage. The Bronco II (via Bronco Combat Systems) Paramount has formed a United States based subsidiary called Bronco Combat Systems in partnership with Aerospace Development Corp and Fulcrum Concepts, and intends...

With at least two launch customers signed up, the South African AHRLAC (Advanced High-performance Reconnaissance Light AirCraft) is scheduled to enter production next year. Unveiled at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) show at Waterkloof in 2014, the prototype AHRLAC (ZU-XDM) returned to the 2016 show last week with more than 250 hours of flight test accomplished. AHRLAC Holdings is producing the aircraft; the Paramount Group is a major shareholder in this company. The PT-6A-powered aircraft has undertaken four deployments to the border and to Botswana to conduct operationally representative trials, including landing on a range of surfaces such as...

Paramount Group AHRLAC Plane This weird plane will soon get weapons. Probably normal weapons, maybe weird weapons too. South Africa’s AHRLAC is a weird bird. With a narrow, high body, and stadium seating for the pilot and sensor operator, it looks like a rough draft for an F-4 phantom. A pusher prop and slightly forward-swept wings seem like an aviation mistake from the First World War. Built as a bushwacking scout, able to operate from rough fields without runways, AHRLAC is an odd drone alternative, a peopled plane built to do a drone’s job. Now, thanks to a deal Paramount...

Almost three years after it announced plans to produce a low-cost, multirole aircraft for military and civilian duties, South Africa’s Paramount Group has completed the first public flight of its AHRLAC design. Paramount Group The advanced high-performance reconnaissance light aircraft’s formal debut was performed at Wonderboom airport in Pretoria on 13 August – just over a month after Paramount unveiled the prototype on 10 July. Flight testing of the type has now reached a total of around 5h, the company says. According to its developer, AHRLAC “integrates designs from attack helicopters, surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to...

South Africa's AHRLAC draws numerous potential buyers Craig Hoyle London 05:01 27 Sep 2011 South Africa's newly unveiled advanced high-performance reconnaissance light aircraft (AHRLAC) design has already attracted significant market interest, according to its main industrial backer. Paramount Group executive chairman Ivor Ichikowitz told Flightglobal that negotiations are already underway with several air forces in Africa, eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, with further interest also coming from other European nations. "The real interest is from the developed, first-world markets," he said. Early demand is being placed mostly on the proposed high-end, armed version of the aircraft, but...