ACES II

ACES II is an ejection seat system manufactured by the United Technologies Aerospace Systems (UTAS) division of the United Technologies Corporation (UTC). In 2012, United Technologies acquired the Goodrich Corporation which produced the ACES II seat. The seat continues to be manufactured in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the United States. ACES is an acronym for Advanced Concept Ejection Seat. It is used in the A-10, F-15, F-16, F-22, F-117A, B-1B, WB-57, and B-2 aircraft. The ACES seat is one of the most thoroughly tested ejection seats with over 300 seat ejection tests to verify performance of the seat and many other aircrew safety equipment items. Over 10,000 ACES II seats have been produced with over 5000 actively flying around the world as of 2013. The ACES II seat provides the latest in safety technology and is known throughout the industry as the lowest life cycle cost seat due to the USAF owning the data rights to the ACES II seat data package facilitating competitive replacement part procurement. In addition, the buying power of 5000 in service seats and previous service life extension programs have further driven down support costs.

The seat is considered third generation and includes advanced features. For example, it senses the conditions of the ejection and selects the appropriate drogue and main parachute deployment to minimize the forces on the occupant. The seat has been updated over the years to include digital sequencing, additional redundancy, and structural upgrading.

The A-10 uses connected firing handles that activate both the canopy jettison systems, followed by the seat ejection. The F-15, F-117, B-1, and B-2 have the same connected system as the A-10 seat. Both handles accomplish the same task, so pulling either one suffices. The F-22, WB-57, and F-16 have only one handle located between the pilot's knees, due to the cockpit.

The minimal ejection altitude for ACES II seat in inverted flight is about 140 ft above ground level at 150 KIAS. The seat performance is in accordance with MIL-S-9479.