When things go terribly wrong in a military aircraft, the pilot's last resort is the equipment they're sitting on: the seat. And it cannot fail, ever.
The 200-lb ejection seat, with its 3,500 or so parts, is a remarkable piece of technology that not only gets pilots out of a crashing plane but also ensures they survive the experience more or less unscathed. If the pilot ejects above 16,400 feet where oxygen is scarce, sensors on the chair will let it free-fall to get its occupant down to breathable air as fast as possible, and only then will the parachute open.
British company Martin-Baker, and its French subsidiary Safran Martin-Baker France, control 56 percent of the world's ejection seat market. Their seats equip the aircraft of 93 air forces worldwide, including the US’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the French-made Rafale, and the Eurofighter. Other major ejection seat manufacturers are American company Collins Aerospace (whose newest seat is the ACES 5) and Russian outfits NPP Zvezda and AO. All told, ejection seats have saved an estimated 12 to 13,000 lives since the mid-1940s.
Martin-Baker's latest major in-service seat is the Mk16. Here’s how it works.
