VALLEY FORGE, Penn. (October 1, 2003) – Crews flying the Army’s
Black Hawk and Apache helicopters in Iraq and elsewhere around the
world are protected by specialized seat systems. Manufactured by Simula,
a leading producer of safety systems and devices, the seats improve
the chance of survival in a crash and provide ballistic protection
during combat operations. A key to the overall performance of the
seats is a 100 percent Kevlar® aramid fiber fabric from Saint-Gobain
Technical Fabrics.
“This material provides structural strength and energy absorption
to make the seat more crashworthy, and it is part of the ballistic
protective system as well,” says Jack Cress, Simula’s Product
Manager for Rotary Wing Systems.
To produce the seat “bucket,” Saint-Gobain VKWF162 fabric
is laid into a female mold to form the seat structure and serve as
the backing to which ceramic armor components are attached. The newest
generation seats achieve high performance levels while reducing weight
by 20 to 25 percent.
Advances in fabric reinforcement have enabled Simula, one of the original
developers of Black Hawk crashworthy seats in the 1970s, to continually
improve the seats – and the safety of helicopter crews. “Our
products incorporate cutting edge technologies designed to protect
our troops and aircrews under the most extreme conditions,” says
Brad Forst, President and CEO of Simula.
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