AHRLAC back on track as rescue deal approved

Development of the South African AHRLAC aircraft was given a new lease of life on 21 October following the approval of a business rescue plan.

Paramount Group announced that the plan “will secure the future of the AHRLAC aircraft, [and] its employees, and will see the resumption of sales, marketing, and manufacturing of the aircraft to customers around the world.

“Paramount Group has already injected new capital in the form of post commencement funding, and [it] will inject significant further capital into the business over the coming months.”

The rescue plan, released on 23 August, envisaged consolidation of the various subunits in the Aerospace Development Corporation (ADC), which develops, manufactures, and delivers AHRLAC, into a single business owned by Paramount Group through two new South African-based entities.

Prototype AHRLAC multisensor surveillance aircraft. (Paramount)

The first company, to be owned by Paramount Group, will take over the manufacturing and tangible assets of the business. This includes research and development, manufacturing, and marketing of AHRLAC, as well as the production of data packs, industrialisation and certification of the aircraft, and supply and support. The new company will also take over the management and operation of facilities related to the AHRLAC programme, including the manufacturing facility at Wonderboom National Airport near Pretoria.

The second company will hold all the intellectual property (IP) for the programme. It will be owned by a company nominated by Riverston Enterprises, which funded development of the IP for AHRLAC.