One of South Africa’s aircraft manufacturers, the Paramount Group, has produced a US$10 million multi-purpose light plane capable of being used in military reconnaissance operations, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Paramount Group founder Ivor Ichikowitz said the two-seater plane, known as the Mwari, is capable of participating in military operations as a precision-strike aircraft and the company has targeted areas of conflict in Africa as its main market.
This is the first such aircraft produced in the country since the 1980s when state-owned arms maker Denel unveiled the Rooivalk, or Red Falcon, attack helicopter, according to the founder.
Paramount, Africa’s biggest privately owned defence and aerospace company, said it has won orders for the Mwari, with the first delivery expected to take place this week after an 11-year development period.
The firm is aiming to sell the Mwari, a word in Zimbabwe’s Shona language that means “the all-knowing, all-seeing deity”, across the world where it can be used for counter-insurgency purposes as well as for other applications, including maritime surveillance and anti-poaching missions.
So far orders of nine aircraft would be supplied to two air forces, the company said, saying it was not yet able to disclose their identity.
The two-pilot aircraft can carry as much as a tonne of precision-guided arms and, with a lighter load, has a range of about 960 km.
Paramount also manufactures small, luxury aircraft for business travel.
NM/jn/APA