Image Credit:Paramount South Africa's indigenously developed AHRLAC (Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) mad...
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| Image Credit:Paramount |
The light aircraft was developed and built by AHRLAC Holdings, a joint venture between the South African Paramount Group and Aerosud.
The AHRLAC features a twin-boom, high-wing fuselage powered by a single 950 hp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66 turboprop engine in pusher configuration. The two pilots are seated in tandem with optional Martin Baker Mk16 ejection seats. The high wing offers good visibility and improves situational awareness.
Designed as a cheap alternative to the current Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones, AHRLAC can be configured for wide range of missions like intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance using sensors like infrared and optical cameras, synthetic aperture radar, light attack capabilities using weapons mounted on pylons. Other roles include disaster management, internal security, border control, maritime patrol and environmental protection.
The aircraft has a wing span of 12m, length of 10.5m and height of 4m. The aircraft was designed by using the sophisticated Dassault Catia software.
The jigless manufacturimg was made possible by parts being pre-drilled and machine made, allowing for accuracy, reduced need for hand skills and therefore less time to build.
With a max. takeoff weight of 3800kg, AHRLAC can carry a payload of 800kg with full fuel and achieve a max. speed of 272 knots. The flight range is 1100nm with a max endurance of 7.5 hours and can reach altitude of 31,000ft.
The designing and manufacturing of the first prototype took 315 000 labour hours with 98% of all 6 000 parts of the aircraff being produced locally by the engineering team. The program began in 2011.
The aircraft made its first flight on 26 July 2014. It is priced at $10 million.
