64 January 2021 // www.Key.Aero Thousands of lives have been saved by aircraft ejection seats. jettisoned canopy or each other, or suff er spinal injuries as a result of the powerful Combat Aircraft Journal explores the rise of this high-tech, upward acceleration. high-speed ‘assisted egress system’ Once clear of the aircraft, a drogue gun fi res, which releases a drogue parachute REPORT BY IAN PARKER (measuring 5ft in diameter on the ACES II seat), from the top of the unit. This slows T ALL HAPPENS in half a second. body, and, possibly, the eff ects of being the seat and stabilizes it, preventing As soon as the crewmember blasted into a high-speed slipstream. dangerous tumbling, and allowing the realizes that their aircraft is no 1950s tests on chimpanzees, in a main chute to be deployed safely. In some longer viable, they reach down program called Project Whoosh at cases, vectoring rockets will also stabilize between their knees and pull on Holloman AFB, New Mexico, revealed that the seat’s ‘fl ight’. the ejection seat handle*. forces of well over 2,000lbs per square foot The main parachute is triggered by an IIn that instant, the canopy above is were experienced in an airstream of 1,945 altitude sensor, and is pulled out by the blasted free by explosive-fi lled bolts or feet per second (1,326mph). smaller drogue chute. shattered by a small explosive charge. In In testing, human volunteers survived Finally, just seconds after the ejection the same millisecond, explosive ‘thrusters’ in excess of 30gs, without experiencing handle was pulled, a seat-man-separator mounted in its front ‘lip’ push it upwards spinal injuries, though modern rocket mechanism triggers and the ejection seat and away from the jet. motors are designed to release their drops away from the crewmember. Both Almost instantaneously, leg restraints energy in a pre-programmed, multi-stage descend, as normal, on their parachutes, tighten around the crewmember’s legs to sequence, and can even adapt to the and the crewmember has a self-infl ating, prevent dangerous fl ailing, and a ballistic weight of the seat’s occupant. one-man life-raft, and survival supplies at catapult deploys, blasting the entire seat On April 18, 1989, Capt Brian ‘Noodle’ their disposal. upwards on its guide rails, which are Udell was forced to eject from his F-15 at For a really ‘deep dive’ into the world of angled slightly backwards. A split-second over 800mph. The out-of-control fi ghter ejection seats, check out this fascinating later, as the unit clears the cockpit, an was heading straight down over the sea, McDonnell Douglas report online: under-seat rocket motor fi res, projecting descending from 17,000ft to 10,000ft in https://bit.ly/38CPXfl the seat and occupant to a safe height fi ve seconds. When Udell exited the plane (100-200ft) above the aircraft, which may, at 3,000ft, his tight-fi tting helmet was Then there were four of course, still be on the ground or deck ripped from his head and all but one limb With the advent of the jet fi ghter in the (a Zero-Zero ejection is at zero altitude was dislocated; which illustrates the type early 1950s, the number of ejection seat and zero airspeed). When sequencing of forces involved. With his one working manufacturers peaked at about 30, as A dramatic ejection this egress, engineers have to ensure that arm, Udell managed to clamber into his each airframer made their own. Today, from RAF Harrier the seat avoids the tail of the aircraft, the life raft, was rescued four hours later and this has dwindled to just four – Aviation GR9A ZG478 ‘68’ position of which has varied hugely over lived to tell the tale. His co-pilot didn’t Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), of 1 Squadron after a hard landing the years – from the twin-tail F-15 to the make it and was killed as he ejected. Zvezda in Russia, Collins in the US and and undercarriage central-tail F-16 (which is also 9ft closer to The entire ejection sequence has to Martin-Baker (MB) in the UK. Air forces collapse at Kandahar the cockpit). be carefully timed, as there are many worldwide are cutting combat aircraft Air Field on May 14, 2009 At this point the occupant will be factors to consider, including ensuring numbers as unmanned types fl ourish, so Martin-Baker experiencing up to 20gs of force on their the escaping crewmembers don’t hit the the market is expected to halve over the

* Some seats are triggered by pulling down a face curtain.

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Air Force to qualify, manufacture and fi eld Above: A Martin- ejection seat systems. The USAF will ring Baker ejection seat fence US$5.2m in Fiscal Year 2020 research, test using a long- development, test and evaluation funding serving, modifi ed, company-operated for the ACES (Advanced Concept Ejection Gloster Meteor T7 Seat) 5. Work on the program in Colorado trials aircraft. The Springs is expected to run through to drogue shoot that decelerates and October 2030. Just over 3,000 older seats stabilizes the seat is will be replaced. clearly visible The USAF fi rst indicated its intent to Martin-Baker award Collins Aerospace a sole-source Left: The fi rst Martin- contract in November 2019 to update its Baker ejection test in ACES II seats on the A-10, B-1, F-15, F-16 eight years took place on June 2018. MB and F-22. This comes not a moment too ejectees even have a next generation of combat aircraft. mean that the pilot cannot react fast soon, as the ACES II seat entered service club they can join… Latest developments involve introducing enough to certain failures. Since ejection in 1978. One of the stated reasons for its with more than 6,000 members! new systems that provide arm restraint, seats came into operation, there have selection over a Martin-Baker seat is that Martin-Baker head and neck protection and improved been more than 10,000 ejections globally the latter would have taken about 26 terrain clearance (early parachute with a very high success rate. months longer to qualify, as more sled Right: A Collins ACES 5 ejection seat exits deployment without incurring high tests would have been needed. the cockpit during infl ation loads) for a wider range of aircrew Collins plays its ACES Donald Borchelt is Collins’ director of sled testing. The seat size and weights. Automatic ejections In late October, Collins secured a potential ACES 5 development. He had a 26-year has left the guide rails and the rocket may become more common from aircraft 10-year, US$700M indefi nite-delivery/ fl ying career, mainly in F-15s and has spent motor has just ignited where the type and the situation may indefi nite-quantity contract from the US nearly 2,000 hours sitting on ACES II seats. Collins

66 January 2021 // www.Key.Aero He tells Combat Aircraft Journal that the from the II can be used on the 5, to keep ACES 5 will accommodate a wider pilot costs down. He says that Collins may well weight range, from 103lb (47kg) to 245lb bid on Tempest and FCAS. (111kg), to increase the pool of potential “Collins is here for the long run. We are pilots. This is partly to accommodate absolutely passionate about the ejection female pilots. The seat detects pilot seat business,” he adds. weight, so that an ejection will not subject Collins Aerospace has about 9% of the a lighter pilot to injurious acceleration. world ejection seat market. Also, there has been an increase in ACES 5 incorporates signifi cant safety helmet-mounted displays and devices, and cost saving upgrades compared with which increase the loading on the head the legacy ACES II, which is credited with and neck. Combined with aerodynamic saving more than 650 lives since its 1978 forces, this can cause injuries, so the ACES introduction. Improvements include: 5 has mechanical head support combined • Passive head and neck protection, with fl ailing arm restraints. qualifi ed to MIL-HDBK-516C requirements Borchelt says that Collins has about with less than 5% risk of major injury 6,000 ACES II seats in operation, half in the • An improved drogue system to provide US and half internationally. Many parts high-speed stability

THE ROTORCRAFT SOLUTION Military rotorcraft generally do not have The mass of the seat, and its position ejection seats because of the problem so far forward of the main rotor axis, of getting rid of the main rotor blades prevented this confi guration from fi rst, because the seats need to travel being adopted. upwards. Russian research on sideways Martin-Baker did qualify ejection seats ejections has not been fruitful. The only in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, however known military helicopter with ejection they weren’t fi tted to production aircraft seats is the Kamov Ka-50 series. The as the politicians were unhappy with seats are pulled out by rotating rockets. the possibility of the aircrew ejecting, In the 1970s, MB fi tted ejection seats leaving the passengers to their fate. to the Sikorsky S-72, for the NASA MB has developed a line of Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA) crashworthy seats for helicopter and program. This was an experimental maritime aircraft that attenuate the high-speed rotorcraft fi tted with TF-34 dynamic crash loads within the seat turbofans, so escape involved severing structure, allowing the occupants to the rotors and cutting the Perspex have a greater chance of surviving the canopy directly above the cockpit. ground impact.

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This image from the The Russian 1979 McDonnell-Douglas lightweight report shows the 'limb Zvezda ejection restraint system' seat Zvezda McDonnell-Douglas

A Martin-Baker ejection seat from an F-35 Lightning II – the yellow-black release handle is clearly visible Martin-Baker IN 1967 THERE WERE 494 MB EJECTIONS IN A SINGLE YEAR; 63 IN JUNE OF THAT YEAR AND 11 IN ONE DAY ON NOVEMBER 22, 1969”

68 January 2021 // www.Key.Aero • Passive leg and arm restraints cockpit without canopy removal, thus • Compatible with standard US military • Common CAD/PAD with thousands of increasing aircraft availability. aircrew interfaces ACES II ejection seats worldwide • Compatible with USAF Personnel Flight • A stability package (STAPAC) with an Performance envelope Equipment (PFE) active-pitch-stabilization system and additional features: • Superior rear visibility • Large survival kit space (1,500 cubic in) Electronic sequencing provides enhanced • Improved instructor forward visibility in • A CKU-5C rocket catapult which performance at all altitudes and airspeeds, tandem trainer aircraft provides ‘a soft ride’; and a spinal injury balancing minimum recovery altitude and Borchelt continues “The fi rst rate of less than 1% injury potential. requirement was to be able to • A GR7000 main recovery parachute • Speed: zero to 600 KEAS (Kts equivalent accommodate the full anthropometric providing lower descent/oscillation rates air speed) range. That’s new, and it presents a The ACES 5 stability features include a • Altitude: zero to 50,000 feet (60,000 feet signifi cant design challenge for ejection Below: Ground-based faster-deploying drogue parachute and a F-35 ejection seat for the F-22 seat) seats, specifi cally because a diff erent stability package (STAPAC) to compensate test. The drogue • Modular structure weight occupant will shift that centre of for pitch changes due to varied aircrew shoot release and • Automatic height-adjusting headrest gravity signifi cantly in the seat itself. head-restraint system weight and aerodynamic eff ects, reducing can be seen in detail • Accommodates JPATS Cases 1-7 “The second new requirement is to the risk of injury. The modular seat Martin-Baker • Worldwide logistics and support for increase the operational envelope of the structure eases maintenance by improving more than 29 air forces system to 600 knots. Inset: Rather than overall access to the internal service-life being ejected • Redundant initiation and sequencing “The third thing is the proliferation of components of the seat. The seat bucket is from the aircraft, system for critical seat functions helmet-mounted devices and helmet- easily removed to facilitate fi nding foreign some canopies are • Proven mortar-deployed parachute mounted displays, which of course puts shattered by a small objects in the cockpit. Alternatively, the explosive charge • Berry Amendment compliant extra mass on the aircrew’s head and entire seat can be removed from the McDonnell-Douglas • Modernized ACES seat sequencer neck, which is another design challenge

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for engineers. To accommodate that … “It just becomes a self-fulfi lling chemical a new parachute, the GR7000. It is a we had to come up with a number of new reaction to push a little harder for “monumental leap” over legacy chutes, design features.” Below: An aviation heavier-weight occupants. Conversely, Borchelt says. “It’s not a performance chute structural mechanic The system automatically adjusts the works on an ejection for lightweight occupants you don’t want like the Golden Knights [use] or something thrust that the aircrew experiences during seat removed from the [thrusters] to push that hard,” he explains. like that. It’s still a fairly a typical- ejection, based on the weight of the user. cockpit of an EA-6B Additionally, just after the catapult confi guration round parachute, but it Prowler aboard USS The technology is intended to reduce the John C Stennis fi res, a passive head and neck protection does have some forward drive, reduced risk of spinal injury. US Navy system will spring into action. oscillation and a little bit of steerability.” “What tends to happen at high speeds Giving pilots better parachutes helps is the pilot’s cranium will roll off to the left them avoid landing in trees, power lines or the right… which obviously can load or other hazards. Additionally, it has “a up the neck and cause a neck injury that lot of features in terms of the porosity of we don’t want,” Borchelt says. “This system the fabric and the way the thing opens,” will keep your head straight. This will keep he says. “It’s got a little softer opening to your cranium from being hit by the wind prevent that opening shock and injury to … and keep the cranium from smacking pilots at higher speeds.” back against the headrest. The parachute must meet the US Air “If you can’t hold on to that ejection Force requirement to accommodate a handle, the wind will tend to blow your suspended weight of 337lb, to include the arms back behind the seat, which could air crew’s full survival kit, plus all the gear obviously injure your shoulders,” he notes. they could be wearing. It must also enable “That’s not good if you’re in bad guy a lower descent rate — 21ft/sec — to land, or in any situation, obviously — but mitigate the risk of injury during landing. particularly if you’re in a combat situation “If the aircrew has to eject, they need to and you’re in hostile territory and you can’t be able to hit the ground in a condition function as well because you can’t get on where they can escape and evade, get on the radio, you can’t escape and evade.” the radio and get rescue forces in there, so The seat also comes with a stability that they can live to fl y and fi ght another package that includes a gyro-controlled day,” Borchelt says. pitch-stabilization mechanism, which A variant of the new ejection seat that stabilizes the seat in the pitch axis. meets requirements for the B-2 program That capability is important for injury was slated to be delivered before the end prevention throughout the ejection of this year. The air force has also selected sequence. The system also comes with the ACES 5 to be installed on the next-

70 January 2021 // www.Key.Aero MARTIN-BAKER DID QUALIFY EJECTION SEATS IN THE BELL-BOEING V-22 OSPREY, HOWEVER THEY WERE NOT FITTED TO PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT AS THE POLITICIANS WERE NOT HAPPY WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF THE AIRCREW EJECTING, LEAVING THE PASSENGERS TO THEIR FATE”

generation T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft. Today, Martin-Baker, which has about and Chinese seats in aircraft such as the Borchelt anticipates international 52% of the world market, records about 30 F-7 (Chinese licence-built MiG 21) and interest in the new system. live ejections of its seats in a typical year. K-8 trainer. Last year MB was awarded a “We’re working very closely with some The company’s head of business prestigious contract by the Bangladesh foreign partners out there who are very development, Steve Roberts, tells Air Force, for the supply and retrofi t of 69 closely watching the development of Combat Aircraft Journal: “Last year we Mk10 ejection seats for its fl eet of F-7/FT-7 the seat with the [US] Air Force,” he says. had only 21 live ejections and this year (to and K-8 aircraft. “The survivability enhancements to late October) we have had only 17, but “Supporting this win was a commitment be able to hit the ground running, the that may be due to COVID restrictions on injury reduction methods that we have fl ying. The market is slowly contracting, demonstrated are absolutely interesting but not as fast as many thought it would. to a lot of folks worldwide.” We manufacture nearly 500 seats a year, and they’re sold to 25 countries.” Leading the way Given that the Chinese and Russian CHINESE Martin-Baker has 16,725 seats in service aircraft markets have been essentially (5,200 in the US alone). Its ejection seats closed, Martin-Baker has enjoyed huge SEATS The TY5C aircrew escape system are fi tted to 58 aircraft types fl ying in 84 success over its 75 years of continuous is the third generation of Chinese countries with 91 air forces. technical development. ejection seats developed and Martin-Baker (MB) has recorded some The company was founded in 1934 to produced by AVIC and marketed 7,634 live ejections, since the very fi rst build aircraft, and is still a family-owned- by CATIC. It features multi-mode sequence control and reliable ejection by test pilot ‘Jo’ Lancaster from and-run engineering enterprise, that is windblast protection. The company the AW52 ‘fl ying wing’ in May 1949. Of the focused on safety products, an extremely says it meets the requirements of MIL- total, 18 have been female aircrew. MB unusual situation in today’s diverse S-18471G, but is unlikely to see sales has also recorded 382 multiple ejections – aerospace market. One seat in every 11 outside China, and its usual customer more than 173 aircrew have ejected twice, manufactured since 1948 has been used, nations, which have included Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Namibia, nine aircrew have ejected three times and resulting in a life being saved. One of the Zimbabwe and Sudan. just two aircrew have ejected four times. main reasons for the Martin-Baker success, During the Vietnam war, the Chinese The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom is the incredible reliability of its products, People’s Liberation Army recovered holds the record for the highest number of which has stemmed from a sustained many MB Mk7 seats from downed ejections to date with a Martin-Baker seat, focus on quality engineering. F-4 Phantoms, and, unsurprisingly, AVIC reverse-engineered them for Above: An F-35B with 2,476 lives saved. Martin-Baker has always had a very their own aircraft. Their current TY5 STOVL Martin-Baker In 1967 there were 494 MB ejections in a international view. Roberts continues: seat is tested on a seats are visible developments of the rocket sled single year, 63 in June of that year and 11 “In places such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, technology of that period. Martin-Baker in a single day on November 22, 1969. and Egypt, we have replaced Russian

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to construct a new center of excellence for aircrew safety, which is now under way. The K-36L-35Ya is the lightweight “The new basic ZVEZDA version which ejects through the canopy trainers ordered by (others detach it before the seat is fi red). It can be used up to 1,050km/h (567kt), and the Indian Air Force CONTINUES 13,000m (42,600ft). The seat installation (IAF) will be fi tted does not exceed 86kg (190lb), including with Mk16 seats, the survival kit. The seat is fi tted to the adding a further 212 MB seats UPDATES Yak-130, whereas most other Russian Zvezda’s latest seat is the K-36D-5, to the 1,013 already in service in the IAF fi ghters have the -3,5 or the -5 seat. developed from the K-36D-3,5 family. Development of the Yak-130 began and Indian Navy. The IAF has also recently One of three operational modes can be in 1991 and the maiden fl ight was in placed orders for additional HAL Tejas selected, depending on pilot weight. April 1996. In 2002, it won a Russian aircraft, which are also to be fi tted with Compared with the earlier seats, Zvezda government tender for training aircraft Mk16 seats.” credits the K-36D-5 with: an increased and, in 2009, the aircraft entered range of operating temperatures; an service with the Russian Air Force. increased range of pilot sizes; improved As an advanced training aircraft, the US and Australia safe-ejection attitudes; and electric Yak-130 is said to be able to replicate Martin-Baker America Inc (MBAI) was heating on the bottom and back. the characteristics of several fourth- established in 2001 in Johnstown, The seat can operate from zero to generation fi ghters, as well as the fi fth- Pennsylvania. It has 143 personnel, 1,300km/hr (700kt), and from zero height generation Su-57. It can also perform to 20,000m (65,600ft). Installed weight including 16 deployed in the fi eld light-attack and reconnaissance duties, An RCAF pilot ejects with its survival kit does not exceed carrying a combat load of 3,000kg. supporting the USAF, USMC and USN. from his CF-188 100kg (220lb), says the company. The Zvezda’s success on the type with the MBAI supports both ejection seat and Hornet on July 23, seat was developed in 2013, but Zvezda -35Ya seat means it could be eyeing crashworthy seat manufacture and 2010, at Lethbridge did not respond to requests for further the light trainer market more generally, County Airport, information on a possible development particularly with those countries friendly sustainment activities for both the USAF Alberta, Canada of this seat. with Russia. and US Navy. Martin-Baker

72 January 2021 // www.Key.Aero sequencer selects the optimum ejection timings from fi ve operating modes, to reduce the ejection loads, resulting in a lower risk of injury. Martin-Baker sequencers have now been retrofi tted across the F-35 fl eet. They are also fi tted as baseline on all new Mk18 Seats and, in 2021, will be introduced into the T-45 and F/A-18 fl eets as key upgrades. Three recent F-35 live ejections have demonstrated the outstanding performance of the MB sequencer, which, the company claims, is more eff ective than those fi tted on legacy US seats. Martin-Baker is currently supporting the primes in the active aircraft competitions Martin-Baker Australia (MBAus) was set developed innovative air bag and harness that are under way in Switzerland, Finland, up in 2015 to support all the MB seats technology to provide head and neck Canada, Germany and India. Its research for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). protection throughout the ejection and development also continues for, MBAus is in the RAAF Williamtown facility sequence. Roberts continues: “We call among others, the US’ Next Generation in New South Wales, with another satellite the three airbags on the seat, the Neck Air Dominance program, the UK Tempest, facility at RAAF Pearce in Western Australia. Protection Device (NPD). These are infl ated SCAF in Europe and Japan's F-3. immediately on ejection to hold the head, History of innovation and are automatically defl ated during Automatic ejections Steve Roberts is clearly passionate parachute deployment. During parachute With some F-35B aircraft failures, the about the ejection-seat business: “From infl ation, the Head Support Panel (HSP) aircraft departure characteristics could the original Mk1 Seat in 1945, we have holds the head/neck on the harness, at this be too fast for the aircrew to react in developed seats all the way through to critical phase of the ejection sequence.” time. Roberts says: “With Lockheed the Mk18. The Mk18 is in development for The NPD, HSP and (integrated) seat- Martin, we carried out a lot of system Korea Aerospace Industries’ KF-X aircraft.” mounted harness are being introduced modeling to determine which conditions In 1993, the US16LA seat for the T-6/ into all new Mk18 seats, and being the aircraft could get into where the JPATS program was the fi rst ejection considered for retrofi t by many operators Above: In this ground- aircrew are not able to eject in time. seat in the world to accommodate small who are planning to expand their based test, the canopy Certain failure scenarios were identifi ed, females to large males, a range known as accommodation ranges and upgrade their has been shattered however unlikely, where the aircraft rather than ejected, Case 1 to Case 7 multi-variate cases, across aircraft with HMD. the drogue chute has was transitioning to and from wing- the 103lbs to 245lbs nude weight range. Unique to MB has been the in-house been deployed and the borne fl ight in the STOVL mode. These The US16E ejection seat was fi rst fl own development of electronic sequencers pilot’s legs restrained conditions would require the aircrew to Martin-Baker in the F-35 in 2006, and there are over 700 and their software, which is at the eject quicker than the fastest recorded in service. It's achieved many world fi rsts: very heart of a successful ejection. The Below: With its reaction times for most aircrew. Based on • The fi rst seat to accommodate the electronic sequencer will sense the outside canopy opened, the this, the F-35B introduced an automatic (ejection) seat in the widest anthro range from Case 1 through environment and determine speed and F-35 can be seen ejection capability for the very fi rst time in to Case 8 altitude conditions. Using this data, the USAF the West.” • The fi rst seat to enable small female aircrew to eject safely across the speed range when fi tted with helmet-mounted displays (HMD), while meeting the Neck Injury Criteria • The introduction of the new IGQ6000 parachute, without using reefi ng cutters, to provide quick, controlled infl ation, low infl ation loads, low descent velocities of 21 ft/sec and the ability to carry a suspended weight of 337lbs for the fi rst time • The fi rst seat-mounted harness that accommodates Case 1 through Case 8, and provides the same level of restraint as the torso harness that it replaced • The fi rst seat in the West to provide an automatic-ejection capability To meet the more stringent physiological requirements introduced by the JSF program, Martin-Baker

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