Abstract: An apparatus (10) for cutting multiple strands of material such as radar reflective chaff comprises at least one movable knife blade (36) with a series of ejector pins (26) which lightly contact the material surface during cutting and a stripper plate (40) which is pressed against the material surface for holding the material during cutting. During cutting, the ejector pins (26) and stripper plate (40) are moved into contact with the material, the blade or blades (36) then cut through the material and the pins (26) and plate (40) are retained in contact with the cut material whilst the or each blade is withdrawn from the cut material.

Abstract: A dispenser (1) for connection to the sequencer breech plate (5) of a dispensing system on an aircraft having a plurality of firing contacts, comprises a main body (2) subdivided into a plurality of cells (6). The number of cells (6) in the main body (2) is greater than the firing contacts on the breech plate (5) by payloads (7) being received directly by the main body as opposed to being separately constrained. An interface plate (4) is provided for electronically and mechanically connecting the dispenser (1) to the breech plate (5) matching the firing contacts to the breech plate with firing positions corresponding to the plurality of cells of the main body. In order to provide the electrical matching, pairs of contacts on a first part (12) of the interface plate (4) are interconnected by selector means (18) allowing a first firing signal to pass only to one contact of the pair and then allowing a second signal to pass to the other contact.