livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Most US F-35s temporarily grounded as ejection seat issue threatens jets worldwide
Air Force discovered defect in April but didn’t know its full scope
A maintainer inspecting an F-35 found that an ejection cartridge felt suspiciously light, according to an unconfirmed summary of a briefing within the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command obtained by Air Force Times. After a closer look, the cartridge turned out to be missing its explosive charge that would lift someone to safety.
“During a routine maintenance inspection at Hill [Air Force Base, Utah,] in April ‘22, an anomaly was discovered with one of the seat cartridge actuated devices in the F-35 seat,” Steve Roberts, a spokesperson for seat manufacturer Martin-Baker, said Friday. “This was quickly traced back to a gap in the manufacturing process, which was addressed and changed.”
Cartridges are the ejection seat component that explode to propel an aviator out of the cockpit and prompts their parachute to open. The defective part was loose and missing the magnesium powder used to ignite the propellant that shoots someone to safety, Roberts said.
Air Force grounds F-35As as ejection seat issue threatens fighter jets worldwide
Air Combat Command aims to finish checking its F-35As for faulty ejection seats by mid-October.
www.airforcetimes.com
let me guess stamped made in China 
