F-35 og Martin Baker

Martin Baker Cries Foul Over Rival Seat Improvements

by Chris Pocock

 - February 12, 2015, 6:38 AM

A sled test of the Martin Baker Mk16E ejection seat for the F-35. (Photo: Martin Baker)

Ejection seat maker Martin Baker (MB) has complained that its American rival is trying to unfairly win government funding for development of a new seat. The British-owned company alleges that safety and maintainability modifications of the in-service ACES II seat, made by UTC Aerospace Systems, effectively create a new product. There is a proposal for the modifications to be funded by the Pentagon; Martin Baker maintains that the seat should be government-funded only after a competitive bid process.

The two companies enjoy a duopoly of provision to the U.S. military, but Martin Baker is better positioned for the future because its Mk16E seat was selected for the Lockheed Martin F-35. MB also makes Mk16s for the T-6 and T-38 trainers and is bidding for the ejection seats on the new USAF stealth bomber, the LRS-B. It has an American assembly line employing 120 people in Johnston, Pa. UTC Aerospace Systems acquired the ACES IIbusiness when it bought Goodrich; the seat is used on the A-10, F-15, F-16, F-22, B-1 and B-2. It is manufactured and supported from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

MB claims that the Mk16E is the only seat that meets the latest USAF needs, including the safety provisions for the ejection of a pilot wearing helmet-mounted displays. The death of a USAF pilot who ejected on an ACES IIseat from an F-16 in 2013 while wearing the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) and night-vision goggles was attributed to head and neck trauma. Further, MB noted, its Mk16 seat is a modular design that can be removed from a cockpit in pieces. The ACES II is not modular, and removing the top of the B-2 cockpit when the crew ejection seats require maintenance is an expensive and time-consuming process, according to MB.