The General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B was a long-range carrier-based interceptor aircraft planned as a follow-on to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II for the United States Navy (USN).
112-545: The F-111B was developed during the 1960s by General Dynamics in conjunction with Grumman for the U.S. Navy as part of the joint Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) with the United States Air Force (USAF) to produce a common fighter for the services that could perform a variety of missions. It incorporated innovations such as variable-geometry wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and a long-range radar and missile weapons system. Designed in parallel with
224-481: A cockpit with side by side seating. The cockpit is part of an escape crew capsule . The wing sweep varies between 16 degrees and 72.5 degrees (full forward to full sweep). The airframe consisted mostly of aluminum alloys with steel, titanium and other materials also used. The fuselage is a semi-monocoque structure with stiffened panels and honeycomb sandwich panels for skin. The F-111B was powered by two Pratt & Whitney TF30 afterburning turbofan engines and included
336-1106: A further reorganization created the Space Systems Division from the Convair Space division. In 1985, GD also acquired Cessna . In 1986 the Pomona division (which mainly produced the Standard Missile and the Phalanx CIWS for the Navy) was split up, creating the Valley Systems Division. Valley Systems produced the Stinger surface-to-air missile and the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) . Both units were recombined into one entity in 1992. Henry Crown, still GD's largest shareholder, died on 15 August 1990. Following this,
448-665: A graphic designer to develop designs for corporate reports and advertising material including the " Atoms for Peace " series of posters for the 1955 International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland. These designs have become iconic examples of the mid-century modernist graphic design style. Hopkins fell seriously ill in 1957 and was eventually replaced by Frank Pace later that year. Meanwhile, John Naish succeeded Joseph McNarney as president of Convair. Chicago industrialist Henry Crown became
560-667: A handful of instances, after being forced to ditch in water. The first recorded case was Lt. B. D. Macfarlane of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm when he successfully ejected under water using his Martin-Baker Mk.1 ejection seat after his Westland Wyvern had ditched on launch and been cut in two by the carrier on 13 October 1954. Documented evidence also exists that pilots of the US and Indian navies have also performed this feat. As of 20 June 2011 – when two Spanish Air Force pilots ejected over San Javier airport –
672-633: A lawsuit brought by the US Government claiming that a GD unit fraudulently billed the government for defectively manufactured parts used in US military aircraft and submarines. The US alleged that GD defectively manufactured or failed to test parts used in US military aircraft from September 2001 to August 2003, such as for the C-141 Starlifter transport plane. The GD unit involved, based in Glen Cove, New York , closed in 2004. In 2014,
784-480: A length of 56 ft (17.1 m). The Navy also wanted a 48-inch (120 cm) radar dish for long range and a maximum takeoff weight of 50,000 pounds (23,000 kg). So McNamara developed a basic set of requirements for TFX based largely on the Air Force's requirements. He changed to a 36-inch (91 cm) dish for compatibility and increased the maximum weight to approximately 60,000 lb (27,200 kg) for
896-581: A license-built version of the Lockheed F-104 . In 1976, General Dynamics sold Canadair to the Canadian Government for $ 38 million. Canadair was acquired by Bombardier Inc. in 1986. Aircraft production became increasingly important at Canadair, and Hopkins argued that the name "Electric Boat" was no longer appropriate—so Electric Boat was reorganized as General Dynamics on 21 February 1952. General Dynamics purchased Convair from
1008-637: A new aircraft design incorporating advanced technologies. The company submitted a design in a 1972 competition for a new lightweight fighter, which it won. This was the F-16 Fighting Falcon . GD's YF-16 first flew in January 1974 and proved to have slightly better performance than the YF-17 in head-to-head testing. It entered production as the F-16 in January 1975 with an initial order of 650 and
1120-565: A new low-level "penetrator". Robert McNamara , newly installed as the Secretary of Defense , forced a merger of the TFX with U.S. Navy plans for a new long-range "fleet defender" aircraft. Since GD lacked experience designing naval aircraft, it partnered with Grumman to develop a version for aircraft carrier operations. After four rounds of bids and changes, the GD/Grumman team finally won
1232-415: A rear-mounted engine (of the twin engines powering the design) powering a pusher propeller located at the aft end of the fuselage presenting a hazard to a normal "bailout" escape—and a few late-war prototype aircraft were also fitted with ejection seats. After World War II, the need for such systems became pressing, as aircraft speeds were getting ever higher, and it was not long before the sound barrier
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#17327916406411344-422: A safe landing speed. Thus, prior to the introduction of zero-zero capability, ejections could only be performed above minimum altitudes and airspeeds. If the seat was to work from zero (aircraft) altitude, the seat would have to lift itself to a sufficient altitude. These early seats were fired from the aircraft with a cannon, providing the high impulse needed over the very short length on the cannon barrel within
1456-495: A solid propellant charge to eject the pilot and seat by igniting the charge inside a telescoping tube attached to the seat. As aircraft speeds increased still further, this method proved inadequate to get the pilot sufficiently clear of the airframe. Increasing the amount of propellant risked damaging the occupant's spine, so experiments with rocket propulsion began. In 1958, the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
1568-415: A specification for a long-range interdiction and strike aircraft able to penetrate Soviet air defenses at very low altitudes and very high speeds to deliver tactical nuclear weapons against crucial targets. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy sought a long-range, high-endurance interceptor to defend its aircraft carrier battle groups against long-range anti-ship missiles launched from Soviet jet bombers, such as
1680-411: A strategic counter-drone partnership, providing General Dynamics' global network with access to Dedrone's complete drone detection and defeat technology. In December 2020, the board of directors for General Dynamics announced a regular quarterly dividend of $ 1.10, payable on February 5, 2021. On December 26, 2020, General Dynamics confirmed that their business division General Dynamics Land Systems
1792-575: A tandem seat aircraft for low level penetration, while the Navy wanted a shorter, high altitude interceptor with side by side seating. Also, the USAF wanted the aircraft designed for 7.33 g with Mach 2.5 speed at altitude and Mach 1.2 speed at low level with a length of approximately 70 ft (21 m). The Navy had less strenuous requirements of 6 g with Mach 2 speed at altitude and high subsonic speed (approx. Mach 0.9) at low level with
1904-586: A test pilot. The purpose of an ejection seat is pilot survival. The pilot typically experiences an acceleration of about 12–14 g . Western seats usually impose lighter loads on the pilots; 1960s–70s era Soviet technology often goes up to 20–22 g (with SM-1 and KM-1 gunbarrel-type ejection seats). Compression fractures of vertebrae are a recurrent side effect of ejection. It was theorised early on that ejection at supersonic speeds would be unsurvivable; extensive tests, including Project Whoosh with chimpanzee test subjects, were undertaken to determine that it
2016-650: A top employer. General Dynamics' community contributions in 2021 were 70% in Education & Social Services, 18% in Arts & Culture, and 12% in Service Member Support. Information Systems and Technology represent 34% of the company's revenue as of 2014. Ejection seat In aircraft , an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs,
2128-777: A total order of 1,388. The F-16 also won contracts worldwide, beating the F-17 in foreign competition as well. GD built an aircraft production factory in Fort Worth, Texas. F-16 orders eventually totaled more than 4,600, making it the company's largest and most successful program. In 1976, General Dynamics sold the struggling Canadair back to the Canadian government for $ 38 million. By 1984, General Dynamics had four divisions: Convair in San Diego, General Dynamics-Fort Worth, General Dynamics-Pomona, and General Dynamics-Electronics. In 1985
2240-434: Is Phebe N. Novakovic . As of December 2022. General Dynamics had $ 30.9 billion in sales as of 2017—primarily military, but also civilian (with its Gulfstream Aerospace unit) and conventional shipbuilding and repair (with its National Steel and Shipbuilding subsidiary.) For the fiscal year 2022, General Dynamics reported net income of US$ 3.309 billion, with an annual revenue of US$ 39.407 billion, an increase of 2.44% over
2352-411: Is Phebe Novakovic . General Dynamics traces its ancestry to John Philip Holland 's Holland Torpedo Boat Company . In 1899, Isaac Rice bought the company from Holland and renamed it Electric Boat Company. Electric Boat was responsible for developing the U.S. Navy 's first modern submarines , which were purchased by the Navy in 1900. In 1906, Electric Boat subcontracted submarine construction to
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#17327916406412464-487: Is also used in the T-6 Texan II and F-35 Lightning II . Through-Canopy Penetration is similar to Canopy Destruct, but a sharp spike on the top of the seat, known as the " shell tooth ", strikes the underside of the canopy and shatters it. The A-10 Thunderbolt II is equipped with canopy breakers on either side of its headrest in the event that the canopy fails to jettison. The T-6 is also equipped with such breakers if
2576-626: Is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia . As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and fifth largest in the United States by total sales. The company is a Fortune 100 company, and was ranked No. 94 in 2022. Formed in February 21, 1952 with the merger of submarine manufacturer Electric Boat and aircraft manufacturer Canadair ,
2688-433: Is designed to safely extract upward and land its occupant from a grounded stationary position (i.e., zero altitude and zero airspeed ), specifically from aircraft cockpits. The zero-zero capability was developed to help aircrews escape upward from unrecoverable emergencies during low-altitude and/or low-speed flight, as well as ground mishaps. Parachutes require a minimum altitude for opening, to give time for deceleration to
2800-520: Is equipped with the NPP Zvezda K-36DM ejection seat and the pilot is wearing the КО-15 protective gear, they are able to eject at airspeeds from 0 to 1,400 kilometres per hour (870 mph) and altitudes of 0 to 25 km (16 mi or about 82,000 ft). The K-36DM ejection seat features drag chutes and a small shield that rises between the pilot's legs to deflect air around the pilot. Pilots have successfully ejected from underwater in
2912-581: Is of no use on or near the ground if aircraft is in level flight at the time of the ejection. Aircraft designed for low-level use sometimes have ejection seats which fire through the canopy, as waiting for the canopy to be ejected is too slow. Many aircraft types (e.g., the BAE Hawk and the Harrier line of aircraft) use Canopy Destruct systems, which have an explosive cord (MDC – Miniature Detonation Cord or FLSC – Flexible Linear Shaped Charge) embedded within
3024-489: Is similar to that of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft; however the main rotors are equipped with explosive bolts to jettison the blades moments before the seat is fired. The only commercial jetliner ever fitted with ejection seats was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 . However, the seats were present in the prototype only, and were only available for the crew and not the passengers. The Tu-144 that crashed at
3136-531: The AWG-9 radar / Phoenix missile system, engines, and a similar swing-wing configuration. The F-111B was part of the 1960s TFX program. The USAF's Tactical Air Command (TAC) was largely concerned with the fighter-bomber and deep strike/interdiction roles; their version of the aircraft would be a follow-on to the Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber. In June 1960, the USAF issued
3248-528: The Convair F-106 Delta Dart . Six pilots have ejected at speeds exceeding 700 knots (1,300 km/h; 810 mph). The highest altitude at which a Martin-Baker seat was deployed was 57,000 ft (17,400 m) (from a Canberra bomber in 1958). Following an accident on 30 July 1966 in the attempted launch of a D-21 drone , two Lockheed M-21 crew members ejected at Mach 3.25 at an altitude of 80,000 ft (24,000 m). The pilot
3360-599: The Department of Health and Human Services ' Office of Refugee Resettlement , the government agency that operates shelters for unaccompanied children to include those separated from their families as part of the Trump administration family separation policy . The company says it has no role in constructing or operating detention centers, and that its contracts to provide training and technical services began in 2000 and have spanned across four presidential administrations. It
3472-524: The F-111 "Aardvark" , which was adopted by the Air Force as a strike aircraft, the F-111B suffered development issues and changing Navy requirements for an aircraft with maneuverability for dogfighting . The F-111B was not ordered into production and the F-111B prototypes were used for testing before being retired. The planned F-111B was replaced by the smaller and lighter Grumman F-14 Tomcat , which carried over
General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-641: The Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts , to build the submarines they had designed and won contracts for. Between 1917 and 1924, the company was named Submarine Boat Corporation. In 1933, Electric Boat acquired ownership of a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut , to build submarines. The first submarine built in Groton to be delivered to the U.S. Navy was USS Cuttlefish in 1934. Electric Boat
3696-749: The Foxhound light protected patrol vehicle and the Morpheus communications system to the UK Ministry of Defence. In 2004, General Dynamics bid for the UK company Alvis plc , the leading British manufacturer of armored vehicles. In March the board of Alvis Vickers voted in favor of the £309m takeover. However at the last minute BAE Systems offered £355m for the company. This deal was finalized in June 2004. On August 19, 2008, GD agreed to pay $ 4 million to settle
3808-581: The Jones Act . Having divested itself of its aviation holdings, GD concentrated on land and sea products. GD purchased Chrysler 's defense divisions in 1982, renaming them General Dynamics Land Systems. In 2003, it purchased the defense divisions of General Motors as well. It is now a major supplier of armored vehicles of all types, including the M1 Abrams , LAV 25 , Stryker , and a wide variety of vehicles based on these chassis. Force Protection, Inc.
3920-568: The Lexan polycarbonate canopy used on the F-16. Soviet VTOL naval fighter planes such as the Yakovlev Yak-38 were equipped with ejection seats which were automatically activated during at least some part of the flight envelope. Drag Extraction is the lightest and simplest egress system available, and has been used on many experimental aircraft. Halfway between simply "bailing out" and using explosive-eject systems, Drag Extraction uses
4032-555: The Tupolev Tu-16 , Tupolev Tu-22 , and Tupolev Tu-22M , along with submarines. The Navy needed a Fleet Air Defense (FAD) aircraft with a more powerful radar, and longer range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II to intercept both enemy bombers and missiles. The Air Force and Navy requirements appeared to be different. However, on 14 February 1961, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara , formally directed that
4144-579: The AN/AWG-9 radar system for controlling the AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles. Poor visibility over the nose made the aircraft more difficult to handle for carrier operations. The F-111 offered a platform with the range, payload, and Mach-2 performance to intercept targets quickly, but with swing wings and turbofan engines, it could also loiter on station for long periods. The F-111B would carry six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, its main armament. Four of
4256-592: The Advanced Concept Ejection Seat model 2 (ACES II), perform both functions as a single action. The ACES II ejection seat is used in most American-built fighters. The A-10 uses connected firing handles that activate both the canopy jettison systems, followed by the seat ejection. The F-15 has the same connected system as the A-10 seat. Both handles accomplish the same task, so pulling either one suffices. The F-16 has only one handle located between
4368-469: The Air Force and Pan American Airways CEO, was brought in as CEO. The company recovered, then fell back into the same struggles. In 1970, the board brought in McDonnell Douglas president Dave Lewis (no relation) as chairman and CEO, who served until retiring in 1985. During the early 1960s the company bid on the United States Air Force 's Tactical Fighter, Experimental (TFX) project for
4480-468: The Air Force version and 55,000 lb (24,900 kg) for the Navy version. Then on 1 September 1961 he ordered the USAF to develop it. A request for proposal (RFP) for the TFX was provided to industry in October 1961. In December of that year Boeing , General Dynamics, Lockheed , McDonnell , North American and Republic submitted their proposals. The proposal evaluation group found all
4592-585: The Atlas Group in March 1953. The sale was approved by government oversight with the provision that GD would continue to operate out of Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas . This factory had been set up in order to spread out strategic aircraft production and rented to Convair during the war to produce B-24 Liberator bombers. Convair worked as an independent division inside General Dynamics and, over
General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-575: The DoD ordered work stopped on F-111B. A total of seven F-111Bs were delivered by February 1969. The F-111B's replacement eventually entered service as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. It was derived from Grumman's initial Model 303 design and reused the TF30 engines from the F-111B, though the Navy planned on replacing them with an improved engine later. While it was lighter than the F-111B, it was still
4816-463: The F-111B aircraft. In addition, Grumman would also build the F-111A's aft fuselage and the landing gear. The first test F-111A was powered by YTF30-P-1 turbofans and used a set of ejection seats, since the escape capsule was not yet available. It first flew on 21 December 1964. The first F-111B was also equipped with ejection seats and first flew on 18 May 1965. To address stall issues in certain parts of
4928-481: The F-111B did not reach service, land-based, non-fighter F-111 variants were in service with the U.S. Air Force for many years, and with the Royal Australian Air Force until 2010. The F-111B was an all-weather interceptor aircraft intended to defend U.S. Navy carrier battle groups against bombers and anti-ship missiles. The F-111 features variable geometry wings , an internal weapons bay and
5040-560: The F-111B's end appeared near by mid-1967. During March 1968 congressional hearings for the aircraft, Vice Admiral Thomas F. Connolly , then Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare, responded to a question from Senator John C. Stennis as to whether a more powerful engine would cure the aircraft's woes, saying, "There isn't enough power in all Christendom to make that airplane what we want!" By May 1968 both Armed Services committees of Congress voted not to fund production and in July 1968
5152-564: The French Patent Office. The design was perfected during World War II . Prior to this, the only means of escape from an incapacitated aircraft was to jump clear ("bail out"), and in many cases this was difficult due to injury, the difficulty of egress from a confined space, g forces , the airflow past the aircraft, and other factors. The first ejection seats were developed independently during World War II by Heinkel and SAAB . Early models were powered by compressed air and
5264-450: The MDC fails to detonate. In ground emergencies, a ground crewman or pilot can use a breaker knife attached to the inside of the canopy to shatter the transparency. The A-6 Intruder and EA-6B Prowler seats were capable of ejecting through the canopy, with canopy jettison a separate option if there is enough time. CD and TCP systems cannot be used with canopies made of flexible materials, such as
5376-698: The New London demonstration compared General Dynamics deployment of an Ohio-class submarine to the feature film Oppenheimer . Twenty-three protesters were arrested at the Garland demonstration, in which women wearing hijabs say they were forcibly unveiled by police. Activists in Maine have called for an end to state subsidies to the company. As of 2021, General Dynamics consists of ten separate businesses organised as four operating segments: General Dynamics current chairman and chief executive officer
5488-555: The Paris Air Show in 1973 was a production model, and did not have ejection seats. The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle , (LLRV) and its successor Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV), used ejection seats. Neil Armstrong ejected on 6 May 1968, following Joe Algranti and Stuart M. Present. The only spacecraft ever flown with installed ejection seats were Vostok , Gemini , and the Space Shuttle . Early flights of
5600-464: The Phoenix missiles mounted on wing pylons and two in the weapons bay. The missile pylons added significant drag when used. Flight tests on the F-111B continued at NAS Point Mugu , California and NAWS China Lake , California even after the program had been terminated. In July 1968, the pre-production F-111B Bureau Number 151974, was used for carrier trials aboard USS Coral Sea . The evaluation
5712-470: The Space Shuttle, which used Columbia , were with a crew of two, both provided with ejector seats ( STS-1 to STS-4 ), but the seats were disabled and then removed as the crew size was increased. Columbia and Enterprise were the only two Space Shuttle orbiters fitted with ejection seats. The Buran-class orbiters were planned to be fitted with K-36RB (K-36M-11F35) seats, but as the program
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#17327916406415824-569: The US market), and its Space Systems Division to Martin Marietta in 1994. The remaining Convair Aircraft Structure unit was sold to McDonnell Douglas in 1994. The remains of the Convair Division were simply closed in 1996. GD's exit from the aviation world was short-lived, and in 1999 the company acquired Gulfstream Aerospace . The Pomona operation was closed shortly after its sale to Hughes Aircraft. In 1995, General Dynamics purchased
5936-488: The acrylic plastic of the canopy. The MDC is initiated when the eject handle is pulled, and shatters the canopy over the seat a few milliseconds before the seat is launched. This system was developed for the Hawker Siddeley Harrier family of VTOL aircraft as ejection may be necessary while the aircraft was in the hover, and jettisoning the canopy might result in the pilot and seat striking it. This system
6048-453: The addition of the escape capsule. The additional weight made the aircraft underpowered. Lift was improved by changes to the wing control surfaces. A higher thrust version of the engine was planned. With the F-111B program in distress, Grumman began studying improvements and alternatives. In 1966, the Navy awarded Grumman a contract to begin studying advanced fighter designs. Grumman narrowed down these designs to its Model 303 design. With this
6160-481: The aircrew to escape at airspeeds and altitudes high enough to otherwise cause bodily harm. These seats were designed to allow the pilot to control the plane even with the clamshell closed, and the capsule would float in case of water landings. Some aircraft designs, such as the General Dynamics F-111 , do not have individual ejection seats, but instead, the entire section of the airframe containing
6272-441: The airflow past the aircraft (or spacecraft) to move the aviator out of the cockpit and away from the stricken craft on a guide rail. Some operate like a standard ejector seat, by jettisoning the canopy, then deploying a drag chute into the airflow. That chute pulls the occupant out of the aircraft, either with the seat or following release of the seat straps, who then rides off the end of a rail extending far enough out to help clear
6384-560: The cockpit and radome. The first five aircraft included Triple Plow I intakes. The last two had Triple Plow II intakes. The first three B-models were fitted with ejection seats and the remainder included the escape crew capsule. For pre-production aircraft #6 & #7: Data from Thomason, Miller, Logan General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation ( GD )
6496-489: The company started to rapidly divest its under-performing divisions under CEO William Anders . Cessna was re-sold to Textron in January 1992, the San Diego and Pomona missile production units to General Motors - Hughes Aerospace in May 1992, the Fort Worth aircraft production to Lockheed in March 1993 (a nearby electronics production facility was separately sold to Israeli-based Elbit Systems , marking that company's entry into
6608-452: The company's cash flow because Saudi Arabia was nearly $ 2 billion in arrears on its payments. In 2018, General Dynamics acquired information technology services giant CSRA for $ 9.7 billion, and merged it with GDIT. General Dynamics has been accused by groups such as Code Pink and Green America of "making money from human suffering by profiting off the migrant children held at U.S. detention camps" due to its IT services contracts with
6720-608: The company's largest shareholder and merged his Material Service Corporation with GD in 1959. GD subsequently reorganized into Eastern Group in New York City and Western Group in San Diego , California , with the latter taking over all of the aerospace activities and dropping the Convair brand name from its aircraft in the process. Frank Pace retired under pressure in 1962 and Roger Lewis, former Assistant Secretary of
6832-559: The company. Hopkins hired Canadian-born mass-production specialist H. Oliver West to take over the president's role and return Canadair to profitability. Shortly after the takeover, Canadair began delivering its new Canadair North Star (a version of the Douglas DC-4 ) and was able to deliver aircraft to Trans-Canada Airlines , Canadian Pacific Airlines , and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) well in advance of their contracted delivery times. Defense spending increased with
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#17327916406416944-406: The contract over a Boeing submission. The land-based F-111 first flew in December 1964; the carrier-capable F-111B flew in May 1965, but proved overweight and underpowered for the navy's needs. With the naval version not accepted, production estimates for 2,400 F-111s including exports were sharply reduced, but GD still made a $ 300 million profit on the project. Grumman went on to use many of
7056-511: The corporation today consists of ten subsidiary companies with operations in 45 countries. The company's products include Gulfstream business jets, Virginia and Columbia class nuclear-powered submarines, Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers, M1 Abrams tanks and Stryker armored fighting vehicles. In 2022, General Dynamics had worldwide sales of $ 39.4 billion and a workforce of approximately 106,500 full-time employees. The current chairman and chief executive officer (CEO)
7168-404: The crew can be ejected as a single capsule . In this system, very powerful rockets are used, and multiple large parachutes are used to bring the capsule down, in a manner similar to the Launch Escape System of the Apollo spacecraft . On landing, an airbag system is used to cushion the landing, and this also acts as a flotation device if the Crew Capsule lands in water. A zero-zero ejection seat
7280-418: The deal, the company warned that doing so could lead to "billions of dollars in liability" and risk the loss of thousands of jobs. Trudeau has since said that while he is critical of Saudi conduct, he cannot simply scrap the deal because "Canada as a country of the rule of law needs to respect its contracts." On 30 January 2019, CEO Phebe Novakovic warned investors that the matter had "significantly impacted"
7392-464: The exception of the Kaman design, the pilot would still be required to parachute to the ground after reaching a safety-point for rescue. The AERCAB project was terminated in the 1970s with the end of the Vietnam War. The Kaman design, in early 1972, was the only one which was to reach the hardware stage. It came close to being tested with a special landing-gear platform attached to the AERCAB ejection seat for first-stage ground take offs and landings with
7504-488: The first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet-engined fighter in 1940. One of the He 280 test pilots, Helmut Schenk, became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat on 13 January 1942 after his control surfaces iced up and became inoperative. The fighter was being used in tests of the Argus As 014 impulse jets for V-1 flying bomb development. It had its usual Heinkel HeS 8A turbojets removed, and
7616-431: The first operational military jet in late 1944 to ever feature one, the winner of the German Volksjäger "people's fighter" home defense jet fighter design competition; the lightweight Heinkel He 162 A Spatz , featured a new type of ejection seat, this time fired by an explosive cartridge. In this system, the seat rode on wheels set between two pipes running up the back of the cockpit . When lowered into position, caps at
7728-480: The flight regime, the F-111's engine inlet design was modified in 1965–66, ending with the "Triple Plow I" and "Triple Plow II" designs. The F-111A achieved a speed of Mach 1.3 in February 1965 with an interim intake design. The weight goals for both F-111 versions proved to be overly optimistic. Excessive weight plagued the F-111B throughout its development. The prototypes were far over the requirement weight. Design efforts reduced airframe weight but were offset by
7840-445: The government of Canada announced it had selected the General Dynamics Land Systems subsidiary in London, Ontario , to produce Light Armoured Vehicles for Saudi Arabia as part of a $ 10 billion deal with the Canadian Commercial Corporation . The sale has been criticized by political opponents because of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen . In December 2018, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Canada might scrap
7952-449: The hazard of the T-tail . In order to make this work, the pilot was equipped with "spurs" which were attached to cables that would pull the legs inward so the pilot could be ejected. Following this development, some other egress systems began using leg retractors as a way to prevent injuries to flailing legs, and to provide a more stable center of gravity . Some models of the F-104 were equipped with upward-ejecting seats. Similarly, two of
8064-559: The innovations of the F-111 in the F-14 Tomcat , an aircraft designed solely as a carrier-borne fighter. In May 1965, GD reorganized into 12 operating divisions based on product lines. The board decided to build all future planes in Fort Worth, ending plane production at Convair's original plant in San Diego but continuing with space and missile development there. In October 1970, Roger Lewis left and David S. Lewis from McDonnell Douglas
8176-562: The largest and heaviest U.S. fighter to takeoff and land from an aircraft carrier. Its size was a consequence of the requirement to carry the large AWG-9 radar and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, both from the F-111B, while exceeding the F-4's maneuverability. While the F-111B was armed only for the interceptor role, the Tomcat incorporated an internal M61 Vulcan cannon, provisions for Sidewinder and Sparrow air-to air missiles, and provisions for bombs. While
8288-492: The late 1960s. Three companies submitted papers for further development: A Rogallo wing design by Bell Systems; a gyrocopter design by Kaman Aircraft ; and a mini-conventional fixed wing aircraft employing a Princeton Wing (i.e. a wing made of flexible material that rolls out and then becomes rigid by means of internal struts or supports etc. deploying) by Fairchild Hiller . All three, after ejection, would be propelled by small turbojet engine developed for target drones. With
8400-503: The losses in men and aircraft in attempts to rescue them. Both services began a program titled Air Crew Escape/Rescue Capability or Aerial Escape and Rescue Capability (AERCAB) ejection seats (both terms have been used by the US military and defence industry), where after the pilot ejected, the ejection seat would fly them to a location far enough away from where they ejected to where they could safely be picked up. A Request for Proposals for concepts for AERCAB ejection seats were issued in
8512-484: The major structural components. General Dynamics signed the TFX contract in December 1962. A Congressional investigation followed but did not change the selection. The Air Force F-111A and Navy F-111B variants used the same airframe structural components and TF30-P-1 turbofan engines. They featured side by side crew seating in an escape capsule as required by the Navy, versus individual ejection seats . The F-111B's nose
8624-868: The next decade, developed the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor , the B-58 Hustler bomber , and the Convair 880 and 990 airliners . Convair also developed the Atlas missile , the US's first operational intercontinental ballistic missile . General Dynamics purchased Liquid Carbonic Corporation in September 1957 and controlled it as a wholly owned subsidiary until a Federal antitrust ruling required its sale to shareholders in January 1969, being bought later that month by Houston Natural Gas Company. From 1955 to 1960, General Dynamics hired Erik Nitsche as
8736-403: The number of lives saved by Martin-Baker products was 7,402 from 93 air forces. The company runs a club called the "Ejection Tie Club" and gives survivors a unique tie and lapel pin. The total figure for all types of ejection seats is unknown, but may be considerably higher. Early models of the ejection seat were equipped with only an overhead ejection handle which doubled in function by forcing
8848-719: The onset of the Cold War, and Canadair went on to win many Canadian military contracts for the Royal Canadian Air Force and became a major aerospace company. These included Canadair CT-133 Silver Star trainer, the Canadair Argus long-range maritime reconnaissance and transport aircraft , and the Canadair F-86 Sabre . Between 1950 and 1958, 1,815 Sabres were built. Canadair also produced 200 CF-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft,
8960-537: The pilot to assume the right posture and by having them pull a screen down to protect both their face and oxygen mask from the subsequent air blast. Martin Baker added a secondary handle in the front of the seat to allow ejection even when pilots weren't able to reach upwards because of high g-force. Later (e.g. in Martin Baker's MK9) the top handle was discarded because the lower handle had proven easier to operate and
9072-573: The pilot's knees, since the cockpit is too narrow for side-mounted handles. Non-standard egress systems include Downward Track (used for some crew positions in bomber aircraft, including the B-52 Stratofortress ), Canopy Destruct (CD) and Through-Canopy Penetration (TCP), Drag Extraction, Encapsulated Seat, and even Crew Capsule . Early models of the F-104 Starfighter were equipped with a Downward Track ejection seat due to
9184-477: The previous fiscal cycle. General Dynamics's shares traded at over $ 254 per share in 2022, and its market capitalization was valued at US$ 62.46 billion in December 2022. As of January 2023. General Dynamics reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 2021 at 696,118 mt (-8.7% year over year) and aims to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2034. The company is on track to become carbon neutral before 2060. In 2021, General Dynamics's U.S. workforce
9296-493: The privately held Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine , for $ 300 million, diversifying its shipbuilding portfolio to include U.S. Navy surface ships such as guided-missile destroyers . In 1998, the company acquired NASSCO, formerly National Steel and Shipbuilding Company , for $ 415 million. The San Diego shipyard produces U.S. Navy auxiliary and support ships as well as commercial ships that are eligible to be U.S.-flagged under
9408-479: The project concluded that the company had engaged in sloppy tradecraft and took inadequate precautions to conceal the origins of the fake accounts created for the campaign. General Dynamics' supply of weapons to Israel in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war has led to protests at facilities in Pittsfield, Massachusetts , Lincoln, Nebraska , Saco, Maine , New London, Connecticut and Garland, Texas . Protesters at
9520-511: The proposals lacking, but the best should be improved with study contracts. Boeing and General Dynamics were selected to enhance their designs. Three rounds of updates to the proposals were conducted with Boeing being picked by the selection board. Instead Secretary McNamara selected General Dynamics' proposal in November 1962 due to its greater commonality between Air Force and Navy TFX versions. The Boeing aircraft versions shared less than half of
9632-402: The same post-war malaise as Electric Boat. It was up for sale, and Hopkins bought the company for $ 10 million in 1946. The factory alone was worth more than $ 22 million, according to the Canadian government's calculations, excluding the value of the remaining contracts for planes or spare parts. However, Canadair's production line and inventory systems were in disorder when Electric Boat purchased
9744-456: The seat from the aircraft, then the under-seat rocket pack fires to lift the seat to altitude. As the rockets fire for longer than the cannon, they do not require the same high forces. Zero-zero rocket seats also reduced forces on the pilot during any ejection, reducing injuries and spinal compression. The Kamov Ka-50 , which entered limited service with Russian forces in 1995, was the first production helicopter with an ejection seat. The system
9856-553: The seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor , carrying the pilot with it. The concept of an ejectable escape crew capsule has also been tried (see B-58 Hustler ). Once clear of the aircraft, the ejection seat deploys a parachute . Ejection seats are common on certain types of military aircraft. A bungee -assisted escape from an aircraft took place in 1910. In 1916, Everard Calthrop , an early inventor of parachutes , patented an ejector seat using compressed air . Compression springs installed under
9968-500: The seat were tested. The modern layout for an ejection seat was first introduced by Romanian inventor Anastase Dragomir in the late 1920s. The design featured a parachuted cell (a dischargeable chair from an aircraft or other vehicle). It was successfully tested on 25 August 1929 at the Paris-Orly Airport near Paris and in October 1929 at Băneasa , near Bucharest . Dragomir patented his "catapult-able cockpit" at
10080-451: The seat. This limited the total energy, and thus the additional height possible, as otherwise the high forces needed would crush the pilot. Modern zero-zero technology use small rockets to propel the seat upward to an adequate altitude and a small explosive charge to open the parachute canopy quickly for a successful parachute descent, so that proper deployment of the parachute no longer relies on airspeed and altitude. The seat cannon clears
10192-575: The services study the development of a single aircraft that would satisfy both requirements. Early studies indicated the best option was to base the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) on the Air Force requirement and a modified version for the Navy. In June 1961, Secretary McNamara ordered the go ahead on TFX despite Air Force and Navy efforts to keep their programs separate. The USAF and the Navy could only agree on swing-wing, two seat, twin engine design features. The USAF wanted
10304-496: The six ejection seats on the B-52 Stratofortress fire downward, through hatch openings on the bottom of the aircraft; the downward hatches are released from the aircraft by a thruster that unlocks the hatch, while gravity and wind remove the hatch and arm the seat. The four seats on the forward upper deck (two of them, EWO and Gunner, facing the rear of the airplane) fire upwards as usual. Any such downward-firing system
10416-402: The structure. In the case of the Space Shuttle, the astronauts would have ridden a long, curved rail, blown by the wind against their bodies, then deployed their chutes after free-falling to a safe altitude. Encapsulated Seat egress systems were developed for use in the B-58 Hustler and B-70 Valkyrie supersonic bombers. These seats were enclosed in an air-operated clamshell, which permitted
10528-402: The technology of helmets had advanced to also protect from the air blast. The "standard" ejection system operates in two stages. First, the entire canopy or hatch above the aviator is opened, shattered, or jettisoned, and the seat and occupant are launched through the opening. In most earlier aircraft this required two separate actions by the aviator, while later egress system designs, such as
10640-467: The top of the seat fitted over the pipes to close them. Cartridges, basically identical to shotgun shells, were placed in the bottom of the pipes, facing upward. When fired, the gases would fill the pipes, "popping" the caps off the end, and thereby forcing the seat to ride up the pipes on its wheels and out of the aircraft. By the end of the war, the Dornier Do 335 Pfeil —primarily from it having
10752-670: Was 21% veterans, 23% female, and 27% people of color. The US Department of Labor awarded the company the 2021 HIRE Vets Gold Award. The company has 26 Employee Resource Groups serving 10 employee segments. Approximately 20% of the company's employees are represented by labor unions such as International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), The International Union, and United Auto Workers (UAW). Independent research published by American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), U.S. Department of Labor, Military Times , U.S. Veterans Magazine , Professional Women's Magazine , Forbes , and Fortune selected General Dynamics as
10864-639: Was 8.5 feet (2.59 m) shorter due to its need to fit on existing carrier elevator decks, and had 3.5 feet (1.07 m) longer wingspan to improve on-station endurance time. The Navy version would carry an AN/AWG-9 Pulse-Doppler radar and six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. The Air Force version would carry the AN/APQ-113 attack radar and the AN/APQ-110 terrain-following radar and air-to-ground ordnance. Lacking experience with carrier-based fighters, General Dynamics teamed with Grumman for assembly and test of
10976-673: Was acquired by General Dynamics Land Systems in November 2011 for $ 350 million. In 1997, General Dynamics acquired Computing Devices Ltd based in Hastings , England , which had developed avionics and mission systems for the Panavia Tornado , British Aerospace Harrier II and Hawker Siddeley Nimrod . In 2001, Computing Devices Canada (CDC) was awarded a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to supply tactical communication systems for their Bowman program. The work for this
11088-508: Was announced in September 2018 that the U.S. Navy awarded contracts for 10 new Arleigh Burke-class destroyers from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis re-joined the company's board of directors in August 2019. He had previously served on the board, but resigned and divested before becoming Secretary of Defense. In September 2020, General Dynamics announced
11200-571: Was awarded a $ 4.6 billion contract by the U.S. Army for M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tanks. According to a report by Reuters , General Dynamics was the primary contractor for a United States military-run propaganda campaign to spread disinformation about the Sinovac Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, including using fake social media accounts to spread the disinformation that the Sinovac vaccine contained pork-derived ingredients and
11312-532: Was broken. Manual escape at such speeds would be impossible. The United States Army Air Forces experimented with downward-ejecting systems operated by a spring , but it was the work of James Martin and his company Martin-Baker that proved crucial. The first live flight test of the Martin-Baker system took place on 24 July 1946, when fitter Bernard Lynch ejected from a Gloster Meteor Mk III jet. Shortly afterward, on 17 August 1946, 1st Sgt. Larry Lambert
11424-594: Was carried out at its new UK headquarters in Oakdale , Wales and the company was renamed General Dynamics UK Limited. As of 2020 , it comprises two business units: General Dynamics Land Systems - UK and General Dynamics Mission Systems - UK and operates in eight sites across the United Kingdom. It is currently responsible for delivering the General Dynamics Ajax family of armored vehicles,
11536-403: Was cash-flush but lacking in work following World War II , during which it produced 80 submarines for the Navy, with its workforce shrinking from 13,000 to 4,000 by 1946. President and chief executive officer John Jay Hopkins started looking for companies that would fit into Electric Boat's market in hopes of diversifying. Canadair was owned by the Canadian government and was suffering from
11648-622: Was completed without issue. Hughes continued Phoenix missile system development with four F-111Bs. In all, two F-111Bs were lost in crashes and a third seriously damaged. The F-111B's last flight was with 151792 from California to New Jersey in mid-1971. The seven F-111Bs flew 1,748 hours over 1,173 flights. F-111B numbers 1 to 3 were initial prototypes; and No. 4 and 5 were prototypes with lightened airframes. No. 6 and 7 had lightened airframes and improved TF30-P-12 engines and were built to near production standard. These were also approximately 2 feet (0.6 metres) longer due to an added section between
11760-668: Was feasible. The capabilities of the NPP Zvezda K-36 were unintentionally demonstrated at the Fairford Air Show on 24 July 1993 when the pilots of two MiG-29 fighters ejected after a mid-air collision. The minimal ejection altitude for ACES II seat in inverted flight is about 140 feet (43 m) above ground level at 150 KIAS, while the Russian counterpart – K-36DM has the minimal ejection altitude from inverted flight of 100 feet (30 m) AGL. When an aircraft
11872-526: Was named CEO. Lewis required that the company headquarters move to St. Louis, Missouri , which occurred in February 1971. In 1972, GD bid on the USAF's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) project. GD and Northrop were awarded prototype contracts. GD's F-111 program was winding down, and the company needed a new aircraft contract. It organized its own version of Lockheed 's Skunk Works , the Advanced Concepts Laboratory, and responded with
11984-517: Was recovered successfully, but the launch control officer drowned after a water landing. Despite these records, most ejections occur at fairly low speeds and altitudes, when the pilot can see that there is no hope of regaining aircraft control before impact with the ground. Late in the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy became concerned about its pilots ejecting over hostile territory and those pilots either being captured or killed and
12096-515: Was the Heinkel He 219 Uhu night fighter in 1942. In Sweden, a version using compressed air was tested in 1941. A gunpowder ejection seat was developed by Bofors and tested in 1943 for the Saab 21 . The first test in the air was on a Saab 17 on 27 February 1944, and the first real use occurred by Lt. Bengt Johansson on 29 July 1946 after a mid-air collision between a J 21 and a J 22. As
12208-452: Was the first aircraft to be fitted with a rocket-propelled seat. Martin-Baker developed a similar design, using multiple rocket units feeding a single nozzle. The greater thrust from this configuration had the advantage of being able to eject the pilot to a safe height even if the aircraft was on or very near the ground. In the early 1960s, deployment of rocket-powered ejection seats designed for use at supersonic speeds began in such planes as
12320-484: Was the first live U.S. ejectee. Lynch demonstrated the ejection seat at the Daily Express Air Pageant in 1948, ejecting from a Meteor. Martin-Baker ejector seats were fitted to prototype and production aircraft from the late 1940s, and the first emergency use of such a seat occurred in 1949 during testing of the jet-powered Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52 experimental flying wing . Early seats used
12432-526: Was therefore haram under Islamic law . The campaign primarily targeted people in the Philippines and used a social media hashtag for "China is the virus" in Tagalog . The campaign ran from the spring of 2020 to mid-2021. In 2024, General Dynamics IT was awarded a $ 493 million contract by The Pentagon. According to an unnamed source cited by Reuters, a military audit of General Dynamics's work on
12544-591: Was towed aloft from the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin central test facility of the Luftwaffe in Germany by a pair of Messerschmitt Bf 110 C tugs in a heavy snow-shower. At 7,875 ft (2,400 m), Schenk found he had no control, jettisoned his towline, and ejected. The He 280 was never put into production status. The first operational type built anywhere to provide ejection seats for the crew
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