South Africa's Paramount Group is delivering its first Mwari attack aircraft to several unnamed customers. The sales mark the first exports of the small attack and surveillance turboprop.
The information was revealed by the company itself last Wednesday (21) during the Africa Aerospace and Defense Expo, an event that takes place at the Waterkloof base of the South African Air Force (SAAF).
Developed from Ahrlac (Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft), the Mwari is a small aircraft, equipped with a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop mounted in pusher configuration, at the rear of the fuselage.
According to the manufacturer, the Mwari “Meets an important global security requirement of air forces around the world, of any size, for advanced ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] and precision strike capabilities.”
“It integrates design concepts from helicopters, surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to carry various systems such as surveillance radar and electro-optical sensor systems.”
Speaking to DefenseNews, Sam Amsterdam, a spokesman for Paramount, did not provide contract pricing or identify the Mwari's customers, but said one of them is an African air force. The company also says it is targeting more customers in Africa and Asia.
“We have huge interest from all over the world. Our biggest challenge now will be to set up production capacity quickly enough to meet demand.”, said the group's founder, Ivor Ichikowitz.
“The Mwari is a game changer for the air forces”, she adds. "It is purposefully designed for the kind of asymmetric warfare that modern military forces around the world are being asked to conduct."
Manufactured near the capital Pretoria, the Mwari has a flight ceiling of 31.000 feet, speeds of up to 250 knots (463 km/h) and has a range of 550 nautical miles (1018 km). The aircraft can also fly for up to 6,5 hours, the company says. The aircraft is equipped with an interchangeable mission systems bay that provides multiple “sensor and payload options” which can be changed according to the needs of each operation.
With information Defense News e Flightglobal.
