▁Pacific ▁war ▁showed ▁that ▁the ▁heavily ▁protected ▁American ▁aircraft ▁could ▁sust ain ▁far ▁more ▁damage ▁than ▁the ▁light ly ▁arm ored ▁Japanese ▁designs ▁without ▁self - se aling ▁fuel ▁t anks ▁( for ▁instance , ▁the ▁M its ub ishi ▁A 6 M ▁Zero ). ▁ ▁The ▁same ▁principles ▁were ▁applied ▁to ▁give ▁self - se aling ▁fuel ▁lines ▁in ▁aircraft ▁( M IL - PR F - 7 0 6 1 C ). ▁ ▁Modern ▁use ▁Most ▁jet ▁f igh ters ▁and ▁all ▁US ▁military ▁rot ary ▁wing ▁aircraft ▁have ▁some ▁type ▁of ▁self - se aling ▁t anks . ▁Military ▁rot ary ▁wing ▁fuel ▁t anks ▁have ▁the ▁additional ▁feature ▁of ▁being ▁crash worth y . ▁High ▁alt itudes ▁require ▁the ▁t anks ▁to ▁be ▁press ur ized , ▁making ▁self - se aling ▁difficult . ▁Ne wer ▁techn ologies ▁have ▁brought ▁adv ances ▁like ▁in ert ▁fo am - filled ▁t anks ▁to ▁prevent ▁det on ation . ▁This ▁fo am ▁is ▁an ▁open ▁cell ▁fo am ▁that ▁effectively ▁div ides ▁the ▁gas ▁space ▁above ▁the ▁remaining ▁fuel ▁into ▁thousands ▁of ▁small ▁spaces , ▁none ▁of ▁which ▁contain ▁sufficient ▁v ap our ▁to ▁support ▁comb ust ion . ▁This ▁fo am ▁also ▁serves ▁to ▁reduce ▁fuel ▁sl osh . ▁Major ▁manufact ur ers ▁of ▁this ▁technology ▁include ▁H utch inson , ▁Am f uel ▁( Z od iac ) ▁( former ly ▁Fir estone ), ▁Meg g itt ▁( former ly ▁Go ody ear ), ▁Robert son ▁F uel ▁Systems