Collins Aerospace ejection seats have saved more than 700 pilot lives

The pilot ejection seats made by Collins Aerospace have saved more than 700 lives in the 45 years the company has been producing them.

The Advanced Concept Ejection Seats are installed on thousands of aircraft and also supports nearly 30 air forces worldwide.

“Although no pilots want to find themselves in situations where ejection is the only option, being able to safely do so is critical for both them and their missions,” the company said in a news release.

That was the case in May when the pilot of an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea was the 703rd person to safely eject from an ACES II seat, the company stated.

Some 6,000 ACES II seats are in service on aircraft, including the U.S. Air Force’s A-10, F-15, F-16, F-22, B-1 and B-2 fleets, as well as all F-15s and F-16s worldwide.

The seat was introduced in 1978 and, unlike other seats, ACES II has an ejection spinal injury rate of less than 1 percent.

The company quoted one of the pilots who said the “story of an ejection is actually a story of 150 unrelated miracles that all occur within seven seconds.”

Next-generation seat

In 2020, Collins was awarded a $700 million contract for the next generation ejection seat for U.S. Air Force aircraft.

The ACES 5 seat is designed to respond to ejection challenges posed by technology advances, such as helmet-mounted devices, as well as the Air Force’s expanded weight range for male and female aviators.

“Our customers around the world now require that their seats accommodate a broader range of pilot weight,” said John Sapp, vice president and general manager of Integrated Solutions within Mission Systems at Collins Aerospace.

“The old requirement was 140 to 211 pounds and was based on size profiles from individuals in the 1960s,” he said. “The new one is 103 to 245 pounds, which reaches the 99th percentile for body sizes today.”

Size and advanced helmet challenges did not exist when legacy U.S. Air Force ejection seats were introduced several decades ago. Newly designed seats are now needed to provide adequate levels of aircrew protection.

“At the time pilots know they need to eject from their aircraft, lots of concerns will be going through their minds,” Sapp said. “We’re committed to making sure that worrying about whether their seat will successfully eject isn’t one of them.”

The most important feature of the new seat is its advanced safety technology, including head and neck protection, arm and leg flail prevention, and a load-compensating catapult rocket that varies its thrust based on the occupant’s weight.

The new rugged ejection seats are made to withstand 40G crash loads and can eject at speeds as high as 600 knots and 60,000 feet altitude.

“Our next-gen seat reduces overall ejection-related major injuries to less than 5 percent and ejection-related spinal injuries to less than 1 percent,” Sapp said. ”

ACES 5 also provides reduced maintenance costs and increased aircraft availability.

“ACES 5 was designed to make sure it is easy for operators to maintain,” Sapp noted. “Because we chose mechanical components over pneumatics, which are harder and more expensive to service, our seats can help ensure the aircraft stays in the air longer, rather than being stuck on the ground for repairs.”