Saving lives since 1946

In June 1947, the authorities had decided to standardise the Martin-Baker ejection seat for installation in all new service jet aircraft, and the work of production and installation was put in hand for a wide range.

With the Mk2, effort was concentrated on producing a simple – yet effective – fully automatic ejection seat, capable of being produced in quantity and reliable in service.

The Mk2 automatic seats were successful in providing safe escape from the aircraft in service at the period, but there was still room for improvement at very low altitudes and very high speeds.

With the advent of a new type of aircraft known as the “light fighter”, it became increasingly important to reduce the weight of the ejection seat without impairing the operation and efficiency of the seat in any way.

To suit the special requirements of the United States Navy, the Mk5 seat was introduced in 1957 and its production paralleled to that of the Mk4, also generally conforming to the same basic pattern of the Mk4.

The Mk6 ejection seats, over their lifetime, have saved over 256 aircrew lives around the world and there are still over 250 Mk6 seats currently in service today.

Following the introduction of the rocket pack to the range of Mk4 and Mk5 seats, many of the Mk7 range of seats were created and subsequently embodied with additional improvements in design.

Following development of the highly successful Mk10 rocket-assisted ejection seat, a simplified, lightweight variant of this seat, designated the Mk8, was introduced for primary trainer aircraft.

In the 1960s, a new design was put in hand which eventually became the Mk9 seat – the design changes resulted in a marked improvement in the appearance of the seat and in personal comfort for the occupant.

The Mk10 seat is designed in four main units: catapult, main beam structure, seat pan and parachute assembly. This greatly simplifies and speeds maintenance or cockpit access.

The Martin-Baker Mk11 seat embodies all the design features of the company’s more sophisticated escape systems, but at reduced weight and size.

Martin-Baker developed the Mk12 seat to provide a cost-effective escape system with an improved low-speed and adverse attitude recovery capability.

The Mk14 ejection seat, more commonly known as SJU17A and NACES (Navy Aircrew Common Ejection Seat), is currently in service in the F/A-18 and T-45 Goshawk.

Developing the Mk15 seat followed research carried out among military operators of the Pilatus PC-7 MkII, showing that many would have liked the extra safety and reassurance of a high-quality ejection system.

In June 2005, Martin-Baker was selected to upgrade the escape system in the supersonic T-38 Talon advanced trainers of the US Air Force and AETC. The seat was designated the US16T.

The development of the Mk16A ejection seat for the Eurofighter Typhoon was carried out at Martin-Baker’s facilities at Denham, Chalgrove and Langford Lodge.

The JPATS (Joint Primary Aircraft Training System) is designed to train students in basic flying skill – designated the US16LA, this lightweight ejection seat is designed for training aircraft, such as the T-6 Texan II.

The Mk16 ejection seat achieves its remarkably light weight by combining the twin catapult outer cylinder tubes as both propulsion system and as the seat’s primary structure.

The US16E Ejection Seat is a further development of the Mk16 range that has already been successful with numerous aircraft platforms around the world.

The Martin-Baker Mk17 ejection seat is ultra-lightweight, compact and very simple in both its design and operation, specifically developed for basic and primary trainer aircraft.

The Mk18 is our latest technology: this evolution builds on the legacy of 70 years of continuous design and development of aircrew escape systems.