Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Aircraft ejection systems |
Founded | 1934 |
Founder | Sir James Martin Valentine Baker |
Headquarters | Denham, Buckinghamshire, England |
Website | martin-baker |
Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company was originally an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection seats. The company's headquarters are in Higher Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, with other sites in France, Italy and the United States.[1]
Martin-Baker supplies ejection seats for 93 air forces worldwide.[2] Martin-Baker seats have been fitted into over 200 fixed-wing and rotary types with the most recent being the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme.
Martin-Baker claimed in 2022 that since the first live ejection test in 1945,[3] a total of 7,732 lives have been saved by the company's ejection seats.[4]
Martin-Baker also manufactures what it calls "crashworthy" seats for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. As of 2012[update], over 20,000 crashworthy seats have been delivered. The Martin-Baker company continues as a family-run business, run by the twin sons of the late Sir James Martin since Autumn 1979.[2]