In the News

Marauder is built to handle IED blasts

October 30, 2011

In the week that president Jacob Zuma set up a judicial commission to investigate the arms deal, private arms manufacturer Paramount Group showed off its Marauder mine and IED (improvised explosive device) resistant armoured vehicle at its Innovation and Manufacturing Centre in Midrand - before taking the behemoth through its paces at Gerotek, the official military testing facility.

The arms industry is poised to take off in the immediate future as a new brand of small and medium arms manufacturers take advantage of the country's famed military engineering skills to produce a new generation of military products.

Paramount Group, which claims to be Africa's largest private arms company, was founded by Ivor Ichikowitz in 1996. Since then it has sold arms products to 30 client nations.

Len Mellet, chief technology officer, said: "The company not only manufactures high-spec military vehicles for its customers, it is also a turnkey military solutions provider.

''It also actively transfers technology to its client states to assemble their own products made from components that are fabricated in the Midrand manufacturing centre."

The Marauder is not primarily an offensive weapon and is optimised to protect occupants. In terms of performance, it is a go-anywhere, drive-over-anything military vehicle. At the official vehicle testing range, deep in the hills of Pretoria West, the Marauder tackled 70° inclines with ease. Its ballistic and landmine protection has been tested and verified by Armscor and the CSIR.

Other vehicles in Paramount's product line-up include the Maverick, Matador and Mbombe vehicles, all sharing the same drivelines, engines, axles and gearboxes, thus minimising the logistical footprint. Clients can buy a mix of vehicles to get a variety of capabilities without threatening their maintenance costs.

According to Mellet, the key technology that the company's vehicles bring to the market is anti-landmine technology based on the V-shape hull that deflects the force and impact of a landmine detonation.

The new-generation "sandwich technology" gives a vehicle the same protection that a V-shape hull does but, with a much flatter shape, its silhouette is reduced and is less
easily targeted.

John Craig, CEO of Paramount, said the objective was not only to stimulate the country's industrial output but to help it move "to a high-value knowledge economic paradigm". It was doing this by diversifying into the aircraft design and manufacturing arena.

Craig said: "South Africa must aspire to be more than just an assembler of foreign designs or an aircraft maintenance hub."

He said Paramount was playing an important role in the manufacturing sector. "We generate economic activity and we are export-focused. We create high-level value-add jobs. We also create a lot of work for our vendor base, with things like highskill fabrication and the provision of components.

''Most important is that we're trying to create an industry that is based on high-level skills, science and mathematics.

''I think this is an area where South Africa needs to step up. Countries that invest in human capital are going to be the ones that will progress.

"South Africa has certain advantages for a business like ours.

''It's a terrific place to do business; it has the engineering skills and we are trying to broaden that skills base.

''We have young talent who bring new energy, and we provide a fun place to work," Craig said.