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Watch this video - all 12 seconds of it.
Strapped in for ejection seat test â at 600 mph
3 seconds from handle pull to parachute opening, and a life being saved
BAE Systems tested a new ejection seat that will be deployed on over 3,000 F-35 Lightning II combat jets around the world, using a 600-mph rocket car, a battery of sensors and one lucky mannequin. They captured it on video â but don't blink or you'll miss it.
The test took place in early April. Though the entire emergency escape operation, from handle pull to parachute deployment, typically takes only three seconds, the team took up to 900,000 measurements per second.
"I am pleased to say the systems performed really well," BAE Systems' test manager Rick Whittaker said in a statement.
You'll see in the top photo and in the video that the ejection seat was actually loaded in a full-scale front-end of the actual F-35 jet where it will soon be installed. The back-end, however, is a rocket engine, which propelled the whole test unit down a track at speeds exceeding 600 mph.
It looks like some bird got roasted and toasted trying to get out of the way.
