Posted on Sep 30, 2022
'It has to work': Inside the military's race to solve an ejection seat safety conundrum -...
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It was during a routine inspection in April that an Air Force technician found a single faulty Cartridge Actuated Device in the ejection seat of an F-35 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The device — known colloquially as CAD — contained no magnesium powder, a necessary material for generating the explosive charge that allows a pilot to begin ejecting from an aircraft.
At first, the potential issue was believed to be confined only to the F-35. By late July, however, the problem appeared more widespread, potentially impacting hundreds of aircraft across the US military’s tactical and training jet inventory that use ejection seats made by Martin-Baker, the UK-based firm that is one of two suppliers of ejection seats for the Defense Department.
At first, the potential issue was believed to be confined only to the F-35. By late July, however, the problem appeared more widespread, potentially impacting hundreds of aircraft across the US military’s tactical and training jet inventory that use ejection seats made by Martin-Baker, the UK-based firm that is one of two suppliers of ejection seats for the Defense Department.
'It has to work': Inside the military's race to solve an ejection seat safety conundrum -...
Posted from breakingdefense.com
Aviation
Flying
Safety
Equipment
F-35
Posted 2 y ago
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That sound to Me like a major issue is safety and quality control. It's fortunate that no pilots lost their lives due to that problem ! There n my opinion is NO excuse for that type of omission in such a key substance to insure the ejection seat worked properly in an emergency. The ejection itself is risky enough without dooming it to failure though an outright careless neglect.
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With all the QC's in use and in place at Martin Baker I'm really surprised this went undetected.
"This issue was found to be unique to this particular CAD part number and unique to the F-35, Martin-Baker has been providing the primes and multiple Govt agencies with supporting data to prove that all other aircraft may be excluded. Outside the F-35, not a single anomaly has been discovered worldwide as a result of the forensic investigation which continues at pace”.
Martin-Baker have stated that this was quickly traced back to a gap in the manufacturing process which was addressed and changed. I'd really like to know more about this "gap".
Connecting some hypothetical dots:
In July Czech Republic announced they would be buying a couple dozen of F-35's because of Russia's invasion in Ukraine
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2022/07/czech-republic-buy-24-f-35s-modernize-air-fleet-wake-ukraine-war-ministry-announces/374690/
Around the same time Martin-Baker has issue with CAD's only made for F-35 ejection seats
From Feb of this year report come out how Russia has hacked a number of DOD contractors.
https://therecord.media/us-says-russian-hackers-breached-multiple-dod-contractors/
"This issue was found to be unique to this particular CAD part number and unique to the F-35, Martin-Baker has been providing the primes and multiple Govt agencies with supporting data to prove that all other aircraft may be excluded. Outside the F-35, not a single anomaly has been discovered worldwide as a result of the forensic investigation which continues at pace”.
Martin-Baker have stated that this was quickly traced back to a gap in the manufacturing process which was addressed and changed. I'd really like to know more about this "gap".
Connecting some hypothetical dots:
In July Czech Republic announced they would be buying a couple dozen of F-35's because of Russia's invasion in Ukraine
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2022/07/czech-republic-buy-24-f-35s-modernize-air-fleet-wake-ukraine-war-ministry-announces/374690/
Around the same time Martin-Baker has issue with CAD's only made for F-35 ejection seats
From Feb of this year report come out how Russia has hacked a number of DOD contractors.
https://therecord.media/us-says-russian-hackers-breached-multiple-dod-contractors/
Czech Republic To Buy 24 F-35s Amid Russia's War on Ukraine, Ministry Says
“Given the worsening security situation,” Prague says, it must bolster air forces now.
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Major vendor problem is what it sounds like. I've no idea how you inspect a cartridge but if they found the problem there must be a procedure to do it. discovered. Having been a Safety Officer and one who relied on ejection systems for good part of my career I'm glad to see the safety system working beyond the initial airframe where the problem was disvovered.
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