Indeed as a Westerner who grew up immersed in Western Culture, I definitely appreciate the concept of a way out for a pilot when everything goes wrong, thus, I like the concept of ejection seats, as it speaks to the needs of the one, outweighing the needs of the many – which is a Western Ideal of course. Still, for every 10 F-35s the United States Military buys costs us $1 Billion – at that price we can barely afford them, and we cannot afford to lose any – so we don’t want pilots giving up the ship too easy. Remember in the past; the captain went down with the ship as a badge of honor.

Now then, fast forward to China, the latest emerging Super Power in the present period. They too are building what they hope to be legitimate 5th generation fighter and bomber planes. These aircraft, the J-20 Chengdu and J-21 Shenyang, also have ejection seats, but why? If we go back to the Star Trek debate between Captain Kirk and Spock, Spock stated; “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one” which is a communist type philosophy. Going by this philosophy one could ask; Why did the old Soviet Union have ejection seats in their aircraft and why does today’s Russia have them as well?

Good question, especially considering how excellent the Russian ejection seats are, and we know this because we’ve seen them in action at various international airshows when the pilots have bitten off more than they can chew and wander outside the aircraft aerodynamic envelope. Yes, the Russians have GREAT ejection seats, we have to give them at least credit for that. Now then, the Chinese, also a communist nation have ejection seats too, but why? Why bother, the individual is not considered their strength, for it is the whole in communism that makes their strength.

Could it merely be that the Russians copied the United States during the cold war and built ejection seats into their aircraft knowing that the pilot could not merely open the canopy and try to bail out at high speed without hitting the tail? Today, many of the Sukhoi and Mig fighters have twin tails and the pilot should be about to exit the aircraft and have at least a fighting chance bailing out without an ejection seat without hitting the vertical stabilizer (tail).

Could it be that the Chinese, even with their communist philosophy, have ejection seats because they copied the idea, rather than because they really care about their pilots? You see, these aircraft are costly, important, and the Communist Chinese Red Army’s Airforce and Navy doesn’t want to lose them, shouldn’t they require the pilot to try to fly the aircraft without ‘giving up’ just to save their own butts? There is something to be said about an army burning the bridges behind them, giving themselves no escape route, it means retreat is impossible, just like the old NASA slogan; Failure Is Not An Option. Hint: No ejection seats in space during the Apollo Missions.

The Chinese made a fatal mistake putting ejection seats in those aircraft. Sure it makes sense if they wish to sell them to foreign countries and cash in on the rush to stealth in the global arms sales market, but for China themselves, it makes absolutely no sense what so ever. Think on this.