Aires 4499 M.B. Mk.10A ejection seats

The Martin-Baker Mk.10 was and still is a British ejection seat which was introduced into service in the 1970s. The official website of the manufacturer states that currently (2019) there are still more than 5,500 seats of this type in service! The Martin-Baker Mk.10 catapult seat was developed as a far-reaching development of the Mk.9 seat. The main changes concerned increasing the safety of the pilot during the ejection procedure, but also efforts were made to simplify the operation and maintenance of the device through the use of a modular structure. It was also developed as a de facto universal pilot evacuation system that can be used on many types of aircraft. It is worth noting that a version of this chair with a reduced unladen weight was also developed, designated as Martin-Baker Mk.10L. Martin-Baker Mk.10 catapult seats have been mounted on nearly 30 types of aircraft, including such machines as: Aermacchi MB-339, AMX International AMX, BAE Hawk, Dassault Mirage 2000, Dassault Rafale or PANAVIA Tornado. It is estimated that the Martin-Baker Mk.10 armchair saved the lives of over 800 pilots!