The first Ahrlac prototype has accumulated 150 flight hours and the second is under construction, with Paramount aiming to have three flying at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition next year as the programme moves forward.
In August the Ahrlac (Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) spent four days at Ellisras (Lephalale) where it flew 20 hours patrolling the borders with Botswana and Zimbabwe between Musina and Mafikeng, according to Leon Potgieter, New Business Development Executive at Aerosud ITC/Paramount. The aircraft was subsequently demonstrated to potential customers at Paramount’s Battle Creek dog training facility outside Magaliesburg before carrying out a flying demonstration in one of South Africa’s national parks.
Potgieter told defenceWeb that the first prototype Ahrlac, XDM, has accumulated well over a hundred incident free flight hours and in late June was fitted with a Paramount Advanced Technologies (PAT) 420 sensor ball, Thales Avni thermal reconnaissance system, Sustel MiniRaven radar warning receiver and Reutech ACR510 radio. The PAT 420 sensor ball features a day camera, infrared camera, auto tracker and laser rangefinder. It was designed for light aircraft and has a range of 8 km and can see people at 5 km.
The Avni wide area surveillance system downloads the imagery it records, and this can be analysed by time or location, as the imagery is overlaid on a map of the aircraft’s flight path. Rudi Ludick of Reutech Communications said the Ahrlac is the ACR510’s first application. This 30-400 MHz radio offers both secure voice and data communications.
ADM, the second Ahrlac, will have various improvements over the first such as an oxygen system, retractable landing gear and ejection seats (Martin Baker MB16/17). This aircraft is under construction and will be completed in late 2015/early 2016, when it will be used for basic flight testing. The tail section has been completed at Aerosud’s facility and the wings and fuselage are under construction. The third aircraft (PDM) will be the production demonstration model.
The city of Tshwane has given Paramount permission to locate its Ahrlac factory at its flying base at Wonderboom airport north of Pretoria, which will be able to produce a maximum of four aircraft a month, although production will most likely be between 10 and 15 a year. Construction of the facility will only likely start in around six months’ time with aircraft production in 14 months. Paramount in August took delivery of some of the new machines it will use to manufacture the Ahrlac, such as a fluid cell press.
In order to reduce costs and make the aircraft internationally competitive, Paramount designed the Ahrlac using the latest Catia 5 design software. This software, also used by Airbus and Boeing, was used to design the aircraft’s 6 000 parts. Because every single part, down to the rivets and screws, was pre-designed on a computer, this allows the Ahrlac to be built without jigs (jigs hold in place the object to be worked on and guide cutting and drilling tools). Jigless manufacture was made possible by parts being pre-drilled and machine made, allowing them to accurately fit together like a Mecano set, reducing the need for hand skills and shortening the build time.
Paramount Group executive chairperson Ivor Ichikowitz said the company expects to start taking production orders for the aircraft in the next three to four months. He told Engineering News that Paramount is focusing on international orders but is hopeful that the South African Air Force will find a place for the aircraft in spite of budget constraints.
The Ahrlac first flew on 26 July 2014 and had accumulated 50 hours by December that year. Key features of the aircraft include its pusher propeller design powered by a Pratt and Whitney engine and high wing for crew visibility (which also makes it suitable for training purposes), high cruise and dash speeds (maximum cruise speed is 270 knots and stall speed is 69 knots), payload capacity of 800 kg with full fuel and two crew, long operating range (1 110 nautical miles on internal fuel although range with external fuel goes up to 2 256 nautical miles and 9.4 hours endurance), short take-off and landing (STOL) capability, including from semi-prepared landing strips, and interchangeable belly pod for a variety of sensors and weapons.
The Ahrlac was developed to fulfil a wide range of missions from border patrol, internal security and defence to disaster management and environmental protection. As such it is the first all-new South African manned military aircraft in the last 25 years.
