So long, 737 Waiting game Zhuhai flyers Lufthansa bids Don’t miss the Sun shines at emotional auf best coverage Airshow China Wiedersehen to from NBAA, as J-20 fighters iconic twinjet with business make powerful after 48 years ­ aviation eyeing debut during of service 10 sales revival 12 joint display 20 8-14 November 2016 flightglobal.com SPECIAL REPORT Out of Africa Paramount’s AHRLAC leads the way as Rainbow Nation powers into production ISSN 0015-3710 £3.60 45 9 770015 371280 FIN_081116_301.indd 1 03/11/2016 09:53 COVER STORY Powering recovery South African aerospace has had a difficult two decades, but private-sector ambition, renewed government interest and stronger export prospects look to be leading a revival MURDO MORRISON PRETORIA amount Group – is the poster child of South Africa’s potential aerospace renaissance, it is n offices overlooking the production hall at not the only example. After years of fruitlessly AHRLAC Holdings, new graduate engi- seeking an export buyer for the Rooivalk, the neers work alongside colleagues in their fif- attack helicopter Denel developed for the Paramount has global export ambitions ties and sixties. The latter are largely veter- apartheid-era air force, the company has set for its PT6-powered AHRLAC/Mwari I ans of the sanctions-era South African out plans for a major upgrade, and been au- aerospace sector and are mentoring a new thorised by the government to solicit interest generation of aircraft developers. from foreign governments. The state-owned shops and other sub-contractors, which had After what some call two decades of limbo entity is also working – albeit slowly – on a withered in the years since South Africa’s iso- for the industry since the momentous politi- concept for a 24-seat commuter airliner, and lated and embattled government of the 1980s cal changes of the mid-1990s, there is new displayed a fuselage mock-up of the product was sourcing its defence equipment in-coun- optimism about the prospects for aerospace, – dubbed SARA – at September’s Africa Aero- try. In the field of general aviation, another embodied in the AHRLAC: a tandem-seat, space & Defence (AAD) show. start-up, Vliegmasjien, is developing what it single-engined, light attack or reconnaissance Meanwhile, Aerosud – another young com- describes as the “first amphibious bush plane”, type currently in flight test. The country’s first pany part-owned by Paramount – is flying the an idiosyncratically shaped six-seater, single post-apartheid indigenous aircraft has been flag for the civil aerospace sector as a first- and rear-pusher that was also shown at AAD. created almost entirely by home-grown talent. second-tier supplier of aerostructures to Air- A favourite saying of Ivor Ichikowitz, the While AHRLAC – developed by a joint bus and Boeing. Aerosud’s success is helping founder of Paramount Group, is that no coun- venture led by private defence contractor Par- reinvigorate a local supply chain of metal try has made the transition from developing to developed economy without a thriving aerospace and defence sector. His boast is that since founding the company in 1994, he has created a prosperous defence and security manufacturer with little help – in terms of fi- nance or orders – from the South African gov- ernment. Instead, Paramount has slowly es- tablished a market in countries which choose not to or are unable to buy US- or European- built equipment, initially in Africa, but in- creasingly in regions such as central Asia. FAITH IN THE PRODUCT The aluminium-bodied AHRLAC – or ad- vanced high-performance reconnaissance light attack aircraft – is Paramount’s first major aircraft programme. The high-winged, Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered type first flew in July 2014 and has amassed about 230h of flight testing. A second, certification- standard prototype, with a few modifications such as retractable landing gear, is currently in assembly. Although the aircraft has not yet REX/Shutterstock been certificated and no orders have been Aerospace investment must be weighed against social priorities in the post-Apartheid era confirmed, AHRLAC Holdings is demonstrat- 36 | Flight International | 8-14 November 2016 flightglobal.com FEATURE Paramount Group “We’ve had enough indication pany is offering the “open architecture” vation platform to the 135kg, 3h endurance AHRLAC as ITAR (International Traffic in Vulture, in service with South Africa. of interest for us to be taking Arms Regulations) free. The idea is that the Paramount also has a significant services these markets seriously” Boeing version “will be offered to US-centric arm, offering power-by-the-hour military air- markets with Boeing as the prime contractor”, craft support and “Africa’s only ‘Top Gun’ Ivor Ichikowitz Founder and chairman, Paramount Group says Ichikowitz. “Markets that don’t want school”: a pilot training academy in Polok- ITAR get a Paramount version.” wane in the north of the country. Ichikowitz insists there is very little overlap with Denel. ing its confidence in the programme by build- CHALLENGING DENEL “There is a perception that we compete,” he ing a factory at Pretoria’s Wonderboom gener- While AHRLAC is Paramount’s first home- says, “but the two businesses are complemen- al aviation airport. It is due to open early next grown aerial platform, the private company tary. Denel are primarily in munitions and year and will be capable of producing two has grown to rival Denel as South Africa’s lead- major aircraft components. Our business is aircraft per month. ing defence contractor. It has achieved this mainly platforms, rather than sub-systems. We Although Paramount was founded “with with little largesse from South Africa’s govern- cross over in land systems, but 90% of the time the bold goal of helping African governments ment. Divisions include a thriving armoured we are not competing.” However, he believes better protect their countries”, Ichikowitz, vehicles business and a concern it acquired in that to prosper, all South Africa’s defence busi- one of South Africa’s foremost industrialists 2013 and renamed Paramount Advanced nesses will have to co-operate more. and philanthropists, insists that “we have cre- Technologies (PAT). PAT specialises in heli- For Denel, there are pros and cons to being ated an aircraft to the highest engineering copter upgrades – it is currently offering a South Africa’s aerospace and defence cham- standards, with the First World as our target”. modernised Mil Mi-17 to countries operating pion. While it has benefited from government At AAD, the company unveiled a weaponised legacy versions of the Russian type – and offers contracts, it also has to operate within the version called the Mwari. Ichikowitz says the a family of tactical unmanned air systems from strictures of political oversight. As well as its aircraft – in which the rear crew member sits the 5kg (11lb), short-range Civet mobile obser- munitions and land systems activities, the behind and 55cm higher – will appeal to gov- group has two main aerospace divisions: ernments and parapublic agencies in the In- Denel Aviation – concerned mainly with mili- dian subcontinent, Europe and even the USA. tary maintenance, repair and overhaul – and “We’ve had enough indication of serious in- Denel Aerostructures, which designs and terest for us to be taking these markets seri- builds metal and composite aerostructures for ously,” he says. the Airbus Defence & Space A400M, Airbus Despite Paramount’s global ambitions, how- A350-1000 and the Honda Aircraft HondaJet, ever, AHRLAC has its roots firmly in Africa. “It as well as being responsible for the potential draws on the very best we have in South Africa Rooivalk and SARA programmes. and demonstrates the capability that still exists If the aerostructures contracts are Denel here,” says Ichikowitz. “A very significant per- Aerostructures’ bread and butter, Rooivalk centage of this aircraft is African.” Although and SARA are its haute cuisine. After build- Paramount signed an agreement this year with Paramount Group ing and delivering just 11 Rooivalks to the Boeing to provide a mission system, the com- Ichikowitz has big ambitions for South Africa South African Air Force, Denel has high ❯❯ flightglobal.com 8-14 November 2016 | Flight International | 37 SOUTH AFRICA ❯❯ hopes of reviving production, this time with a much-revamped variant. The type’s first combat mission since its flight debut more than a quarter of a century ago – a suc- cessful attack on M23 rebels in the Democrat- ic Republic of Congo on behalf of the UN’s Force Intervention Brigade in 2013 – has sparked interest from Brazil and the Middle East, says deputy chief executive Victor Xaba. NEXT GENERATION Now, alongside an initiative to upgrade the existing South African Rooivalks from next year, the government has authorised Denel to solicit interest in a Mk2 version. According to Xaba, everything is in place. “We are still the OEM. There have been significant advances in composites to ensure that we can produce an aircraft that is in line with the manufactur- AirTeamImages ing capabilities of the modern day,” he says. Combat debut in 2013 has sparked renewed interest in Denel’s Rooivalk attack helicopter Three designers who worked on the Rooivalk are still with the company – a fragile if vital “Developing suppliers in thing. We are putting a lot of effort into sup- link to the original programme. The only hur- plier development and we have 10 subcon- dle is that there are not yet any customers. South Africa is important. We tractors that we mentor.” Xaba says Denel would need orders for 70 to don’t want to do everything” “support re-establishment of manufacturing”. COST DISADVANTAGE Johan Steyn The Rooivalk programme polarises views Managing director, Aerosud Aviation South Africa’s location at the foot of a huge within South Africa.