At Argenteuil near Paris, these are the premises where the Rafale’s ejection seat is assembled, and the 250th has just been produced. Major Thomas Picot, a Rafale pilot, appreciates the new functions. As he explains, "once the pilot has started his aircraft’s engines, he will arm his seat like this, and if he pulls the handle, the seat is launched. In the event of a rapid evacuation, it is also possible to use the emergency release control on the side or the loop."
The company is a 50/50 Franco- British joint venture subsidiary of Safran and Martin-Baker, world leader in the sector. They design, develop and produce ejection seats for thirty air forces throughout the world. 200 hours of extreme precision work has gone into each of the 5,700 seats, which have been produced.
General William Kurtz, CEO - SEMMB: interview in the video.
Thanks to these seats, 698 pilots' lives have been saved. This former fighter pilot is one of them. 25 years ago his Jaguar fighter was involved in a bird strike, and today he wanted to come here to show his gratitude to the manufacturer.
SEMMB not only produces ejection seats but also provides a maintenance service for them.
