Paramount Group is a Global Aerospace & Defence group of companies operating in the global defence, internal security and peacekeeping industries. Established in South Africa in 1994, it offers a range of military aircraft, armoured vehicles, maritime systems, equipment and training to governments. Since 2006, Paramount Group has been expanding its presence in the aerospace sector. During 2011, the company unveiled the AHRLAC (''Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft''), a long-range reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft; it is the first military fixed-wing aircraft to be designed and built indigenously in Africa. In 2013, Paramount Group acquired South African aerospace firm ''Advanced Technologies and Engineering'' (ATE); during the following year, it announced the acquisition of the South African aerospace company

Aerosud Aerosud is a group of companies with Aerosud Holdings as the parent company. The group is a South African aeronautical engineering and manufacturing company. Aerosud Aerospace was renamed Paramount Aerospace following its acquisition by Paramou ...

, its primary partner on the ARHLAC. Both firms have been integrated into the group.

History

Paramount Group was established by South African entrepreneur and industrialist Ivor Ichikowitz in 1994; its headquarters were established in Sandton, South Africa. During its initial years of operation, the company largely focused itself on the development and production of ground-based systems. During 2006, Paramount Group began developing its own portfolio of aerospace products, acquiring a number of surplus

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

(SAAF) Dassault Mirage F1s that same year. Operated by its subsidiary, ''Paramount Aerospace Systems'', the Mirage F1 fleet has been expanded over the years and is used for purposes such as providing aerial aggressor and ground crew maintenance training services to government customers. During 2009, Paramount Group purchased a 19% stake in the South African aerospace company

. During February 2011, Paramount Group announced the launch of a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

with Abu Dhabi - based defence business International Golden Group for the latter market and distribute Paramount Group’s products and services in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. In September 2011, the company unveiled a new project, the

AHRLAC Holdings Ahrlac The AHRLAC (Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft) is a South African light reconnaissance and counter-insurgency aircraft developed by AHRLAC Holdings, a joint venture between the Paramount Group and Aerosud. It is designed ...

(''Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft''), a versatile low-cost aircraft designed for light attack and reconnaissance missions. The development programme was originally structured as a

between Aerosud and Paramount Group.Majumdar, Dave
"South Africa's Dirt-Cheap War Machine."
''The National Interest'', 9 October 2015. While originally intended as an alternative to

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

(UAVs), the company subsequently decided to develop an unmanned variant of the AHRLAC as well.Jeffrey, Colin
"AHRLAC: The first multi-platform military aircraft designed and built in Africa."
''New Atlas '', 15 August 2014. During December 2011, the UK national newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' reported that the Paramount Group's Wikipedia article had been edited by accounts linked to the controversial public relations company

Bell Pottinger Bell Pottinger Private (legally BPP Communications Ltd.) was a British multinational public relations, reputation management and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. On 12 September 2017 it went into administration (bankr ...

. On 10 June 2013, Paramount Group announced that their takeover of Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE) was at an advanced stage. ATE had been operating under a business rescue plan for some time before Paramount decided on the takeover. During November 2013, Paramount Group announced that it had gained a controlling stake in ship builder Nautic Africa; it stated its intention to produce a new range of vessels, claiming it would help Africa protect against

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. Two years later, the company began construction of a state-of-the-art naval production facility located in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. During September 2018, it acquired the South African boat manufacturer Austral Marine. During February 2014, Paramount Group announced that it had acquired Aerosud as a part of its strategy to rapidly expand its presence within the aerospace and defence markets. Shortly thereafter, the company was renamed ''Paramount Aerospace''. Furthermore, around the same time frame, a new division of the company, ''Paramount Robotic Systems'', was created with the goal of developing

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

capabilities with airborne, land and sea applications. During July 2014, Paramount Group and American aerospace company

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

signed a memorandum of collaboration to develop products together across a wide range of areas, including humanitarian aid, disaster relief,

anti-poaching Anti-poaching is the organised act to counter the poaching of wildlife. However, it is generally used to describe an overall effort against the illegal wildlife trade. The act of anti-poaching is normally carried out by national parks on public ...

and border protection. Since forming this partnership, the two companies have jointly worked on several projects pertaining to aviation technologies. In March 2016, Boeing announced that it had entered into a development partnership with Paramount with the aim of producing a militarized version of the Ahrlac; Boeing's contribution to the programme reportedly includes the development of an integrated mission system with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and weapons system capabilities for the aircraft.Atherton, Kelsey D
"Boeing Will Arm South Africa's Weird Plane."
''Popular Science'', 8 March 2016. In April 2015, Paramount Group announced that it was in the process of taking over ''DCD Protected Mobility'', formerly a division of South African industrial and engineering group DCD. Under the terms of this agreement, Paramount took control of its facilities located in Isando, Kempton Park,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. By 2016, the business reportedly has government clients in 28 countries across five continents. along with partnerships with numerous leading international defence and aerospace players. At the time, Paramount Group was organised into four primary business units: maritime, combat systems, aerospace, and advanced technologies. On 20 September 2018, Italian aerospace manufacturer

Alenia Aermacchi Alenia Aermacchi was a company active in the aeronautics sector, with offices and plants in Venegono Superiore, Varese, Turin Airport in San Maurizio Canavese, Province of Turin and Pomigliano d'Arco, Province of Naples. From 1 January 2016, ...

signed an agreement with Paramount Group for the latter to evaluate and develop a combat-orientated model of the former's M-345 trainer aircraft to suit the requirements of prospective

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n customers. It is reportedly planned for the aircraft updated with Paramount's Swift mission system.Hoyle, Craig
"Leonardo eyes African market for armed M-345."
''Flight International'', 27 September 2018.

Road vehicles

During 2000, Paramount Group launched the first of its road vehicles, the

Marauder Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in the ' ...

. Since then, the firm has expanded its range to manufacture a variety of armoured vehicles, including the

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

, Mbombe 6, and

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

References

External links

* {{automotive industry in South Africa Defence companies of South Africa Aerospace companies of South Africa Manufacturing companies based in Johannesburg Military vehicle manufacturers Companies based in Sandton