After more than a decade of development work, Paramount Group has made the first deliveries of its Mwari multi-mission intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strike aircraft to its launch customers.

n 2009, Paramount Group and Aerosud began working on what was initially referred to as the AHRLAC (Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) project as the first new clean-sheet manned military aircraft in South Africa since the Rooivalk decades earlier.

In 2011, a full-scale mock-up of the AHRLAC was constructed, alongside a quarter-scale flight-capable model that was later used for a total of 80 test flights. The first full-scale prototype, designated as the Experimental Demonstrator (XDM), made its first flight on 26 July 2014, from Wonderboom Airport. The second prototype, designated as the Advanced Demonstrator (ADM), was built for testing armaments and mission systems.

By September 2016, the prototype had accumulated 250 flying hours, as well as a total of four deployments to the South African border and to neighbouring Botswana for the purpose of operationally representative trials.

Six years later, Paramount at the September 2022 Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition revealed that it had sold a total of nine aircraft to two unnamed countries, with first deliveries, to a southern African nation, imminent. Four aircraft are on the production line at the state-of-the-art factory at Wonderboom Airport outside Pretoria.

Design

The Mwari is marketed as a relatively inexpensive alternative to high-end military aircraft for surveillance, maritime patrol and counter-insurgency operations. A base model costs around $10 million – less than half the price of the competing Embraer Super Tucano, for example, but add-on options including electro-optical pods, electronic intelligence gathering and night vision systems will push the price up.

Operating costs are also designed to be low, at $1 000/hour, which is a small fraction compared to its competitors. Its logistics footprint is also meant to be small, and the ruggedised Mwari is designed for missions in remote and austere environments with minimum logistical support. The aircraft has been designed to be capable of operating from rough and short runways and fields as it possesses STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capabilities.

Part of the process of bringing the aircraft’s costs down involved using Catia 5 design software as well as simulation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis during the design phase. This software, also used by Airbus and Boeing, was used to design the airframe’s 6 000 parts (of which 98% are produced locally). Because every single part, down to the rivets and screws, was pre-designed on a computer, this allows the Mwari to be built without jigs (jigs hold in place the object to be worked on and guide cutting and drilling tools), shortening the build time.

Key to the Mwari’s versatility is an airframe designed around an internal interchangeable mission systems bay and 25 mounting points all around the aircraft, including six hard points under the wings. This provides almost endless options of installing antennae, sensors, dispensers, targeting pods, precision guided munitions, pylons and other mission equipment. Weapons options include guided munitions, guided rockets, air-to-ground missiles and a cannon pod, giving it a precision strike capability. The interchangeable weapons bay can be swapped out in less than two hours. Open-architecture and flexible systems allows for the quick and low-cost integration of new pods, avionics, cargo, special mission equipment, weapons and sensors.

Sensors and equipment that have already been fitted to the aircraft include Hensoldt’s Argos II electro-optical gimbal, Paramount Advanced Technologies’ 420 sensor ball, Thales’s Avni thermal reconnaissance system, Sysdel’s MiniRaven radar warning receiver, and Reutech’s ACR510 radio, amongst others.

The aircraft features an unusual twin-boom, single-pusher-engine, high-mounted forward-swept wing configuration, giving the aircraft an unconventional external appearance and providing for excellent external visibility. The two-crew are seated in tandem configuration, both being provided with optional Martin-Baker Mk 16 ejection seats, and full HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) side-stick controls. The rear cockpit is fitted with a 21-inch large screen display.

Global market

Paramount has designed the Mwari with portable production in mind and the aircraft could, depending on customer requirements, be exported in kit format for final assembly in customer countries and can easily integrate into supply chains around the world, enabling scalable mass production. Production capacity at the Wonderboom factory stands at two aircraft per month, but this could be increased depending on customer demand.

Although the Mwari’s launch customers are in Africa, Paramount is targeting potential clients around the world, and this has included the United States. In March 2016, Boeing and Paramount signed a cooperation agreement whereby Boeing would offer weapons and sensors on the Mwari and then in February 2018, an announcement was made that the aircraft would be marketed in the USA under the name “Bronco II”, in partnership with US companies Leidos and Vertex Aerospace.

In mid-2021 the Bronco II took part in flight trials in the US as it competed for a US Special Operations Command competition for a new Armed Overwatch aircraft, but in 2022, US Special Operations Command selected the AT-802U Sky Warden, made by L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor. During testing, the Mwari suffered an undercarriage collapse (resulting in minor airframe damage) while it was stationary on the ground, most likely affecting its competitiveness, but nevertheless, for the Mwari to compete in such an international competition is a notable achievement for the South African industry.

In the United States, the Mwari competed against aircraft like the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II and re-purposed crop dusters like the Iomax Archangel, but it is also marketed as a substitute for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): Paramount claims that the aircraft will be cheaper to acquire and operate than UAVs.

Paramount recently signed a memorandum of understanding with S-Plane Automation that will see S-Plane integrate its X-KIT optionally piloted vehicle solution onto the Mwari, allowing it to address both unmanned aerial support and optionally piloted aircraft operations.

As part of the development process, Paramount developed a quarter scale model for flight testing purposes. This aircraft was subsequently developed into the Mwewe UAV, with flight time of up to four hours, and which is being offered by Paramount along with its other UAV lineup.

Speedbump

The Mwari has come a long way since it was originally conceptualised, but it has not been without hiccups. Due to contractual, management, intellectual property and funding disputes between Aerosud and Paramount Group, in February 2019 the project was placed into business rescue with the Wonderboom factory being shut down and all 140 employees sent home. In August 2019, a business rescue plan was announced, with Paramount taking full control of the Aerospace Development Corporation (ADC) and its subsidiaries (the ADC was established by Aerosud and Paramount to build the aircraft). The final phase of the Business Rescue Plan was completed in August 2020, with production restarting the following month.

Developing a new aircraft is a difficult and costly affair – Paramount says to date it has invested around more than $250 million in the aircraft’s development. In spite of some speedbumps along the way, the aircraft is finally ready for customer deliveries, and Paramount estimates the potential market for the Mwari as potentially being “in the hundreds or thousands of units” worldwide.

MWARI GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Crew: two (pilot, co-pilot/observer)

Length: 10.3 m (34 ft.)

Wingspan: 11.9 m (39 ft.)

Height: 4.0 m (13 ft.)

• Twin Boom, Pusher Propeller and Forward Swept / High Wing

•Vertically Stepped Tandem Cockpit with Excellent Visibility

• High Floatation, Retractable Under-Carriage

• Interchangeable Conformal Mission Bay

• Hard Points (25 Around the Airframe in Total)

• Two Wet Pylons for External Fuel (Inner Wing Stations)

Cockpit Equipment

Ejection Seats (Martin Baker Mk16)

IFR and Night Vision Instrumentation

Hands-On-Throttle and Stick (HOTAS)

Mission System and Sensors

• Electro-Optical Sighting System (EOS) with Laser Designator

• Long Range Reconnaissance Radar (SAR)

• Digital Mapping, Sensor Control, Image Processor

• Helmet Mounted Sight and Display System (HMSD)

• Self-Protection System (LWR/RWR, MAWS, Chaff and Flares)

Weapon Options (on Smart Pylons)

• GI-2 20 mm cannon

•Missiles: Mokopa anti-tank guided missles (ATGM)

• Bombs: Mk 81 (250 lb.) or Mk 82 (500 lb.) general purpose bombs 

•Rockets: 70mm guided

Performance Parameters

Maximum Cruise Speed:                     272 knots

Stall Speed (Full Flaps):                                   70 knots

Max Take-Off Weight (MTOW):                     4500 kg

Max Load Factor:                                +7.0 g and -2.5 g

Take-Off Distance Full Payload:                      600 m (2000 ft)

Max Range (With External Fuel):                    2000 NM

Max Endurance (With External Fuel):            10 hours

Max Payload with Full Fuel:                800 kg

Service Ceiling (at 3800kg):                32 000 ft.

Power Plant:              

Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66B: (950 HP) or PT6A-67F (1700HP)

Propeller:                                           

Hartzell 5 Blade