Wed, Jul 06, 2005
Improved Seats
Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd. has been competitively selected
to build new ejection seats for each of 509 T-38 Talon advanced jet
trainers in service with the US Air Force Air Education and
Training Command. The seats are designed to significantly improve
the life saving capability of the T-38 escape system.
The program is expected to retrofit the entire fleet over the
next 9 years is potentially worth in excess of $200 million. The
new seat will accommodate the greatly expanded male and female
pilot population size range and guarantee technical and logistic
support for the next 40 years. Martin Baker ejection seats have
saved over 7100 pilots overall, and 15 this year.
The ejection seat, the US16T, is similar to that used in the
Eurofighter Typhoon now entering service with the RAF and is
virtually identical to that which Martin-Baker supplied to NASA to
re-equip all of the Space Agency's T-38s that are used for
astronaut training.
"NASA is a very discerning customer and the experience that we
gained on that program undoubtedly helped position the company to
be able to offer a winning proposal to the Air Force," said Joint
Managing Director, James Martin.
Initially, minor changes will be made to meet Air Force special
requirements, such as a modified inter-seat sequence system to
enable the instructor to eject both the pupil and himself. The
escape system will then undergo a rigorous test program that
includes fully representative ejections (with instrumented dummies)
from a T-38 fuselage travelling at 700 mph along a special
track.
Production is scheduled to commence at Denham in late 2006.
Depending on quantities ordered, work will be transferred to the
Martin-Baker America plant in Johnstown, Pennsylvania - a wholly
owned subsidiary of the UK parent Company. It is intended that
eventually the work will be shared between the UK and US
plants.
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