The project has a goal of permitting landings at fields with runways shorter than 1,000m, of which there are more than 460 in South Africa alone.
A high wing configuration was selected for SARA to meet the issue of foreign object debris, for example stones thrown up by the propellers during landing, taking off and taxiing.
[2] It is planned to have a maximum takeoff weight of 8,400 kilograms (18,519 lb) and a pressurised cabin.
Denel is currently building a full-size mock-up of the SARA to be used as a test rig to check the ease of ingress and egress of passengers; seating layouts; internal cabin arrangements; basic cockpit arrangements; and other parameters.
The development phase was expected to last five years, with a prototype aircraft to be manufactured by 2020 or 2021.