Designation system for guided missiles, missiles, probes, boosters and satellites of the US armed forces
The naming system for guided missiles, missiles, probes, boosters and satellites of the US armed forces defines how US military flying objects are officially classified and named. Some of these terms and names, such as AIM-9 Sidewinder, are also relatively common.
The current system has been in place since 1962, when the US Department of Defense standardized the various divisions of the Army , Air Force, and Navy (including the Marine Corps and Coast Guard ). It is based on the naming scheme used by the US Air Force (USAF) since 1948. The rules and their application are set out in the current version of an instruction issued by the US armed forces (AFI 16-401).
Components
The designation is made up of the following, partly optional components:
| Status ID (optional) |
Launch platform | Main purpose | Type | Design number | Variant (optional) |
Name (optional) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C (captive) | A (Air) | C (transport) | B (booster) | ongoing | mostly continuously | individually |
| D (dummy) | B (multiple) | D (decoy) | M (Guided Missile) | |||
| J (Special Test (Temporary)) | C (coffin) | E (Electronic / Communications) | N (sample) | |||
| N (Special Test (Permanent)) | F (individual) | G (surface attack) | R (Rocket) | |||
| X (experimental) | G (Surface) | I (Aerial / Space Intercept) | S (satellite) | |||
| Y (prototype) | H (Silo Stored) | L (Launch Detection / Surveillance) | ||||
| Z (Planning) | L (Silo Launched) | M (Scientific / Calibration) | ||||
| M (Mobile) | N (navigation) | |||||
| P (soft pad) | Q (Drone) | |||||
| R (Ship) | S (Space Support) | |||||
| S (Space) | T (training) | |||||
| U (underwater) | U (underwater attack) | |||||
| W (Weather) |
Status identifier
The status prefix indicates non-standard usage and is optional. It is placed in front of the rest of the identifier:
- C - Dummy for day trials on the launch platform.
- D - Non-airworthy dummy for training purposes.
- J - Temporary special tests with modified equipment. Is used when the modifications can be reversed relatively easily.
- N - Permanent special tests with modified equipment. Is used if the modifications can only be reversed with disproportionately high effort.
- X - flying object in an experimental stage or in development.
- Y - prototype . The performance of the design can be assessed on it. Serves as a sample for series production.
- Z - Intended for the planning phase of a design.
Launch platform
Launch platform from which the flight object is launched:
- A - Flying object launched in the air.
- B - Can be launched from various launch platforms.
- C - Flying object launched from a container on the ground.
- F - Hand-launched aircraft.
- G - Flying object taking off from a runway or the ground.
- H - vertically stored flying object that is launched above ground.
- L - Flying object stored vertically and launched underground.
- M - Aircraft launched from a mobile ground vehicle.
- P - Aircraft launched from the ground that is stored fully or partially protected.
- R - Flying object launched by a marine surface craft (boat, hovercraft ).
- S - aircraft launched in space .
- U - Flying object launched below the surface of the water.
Main purpose
- C - transportation of tangible and intangible goods.
- D - Disruption of the opposing defense measures by faking an attack.
- E - Equipped with electronics for communication, electronic countermeasures, or radar direction finding.
- G - Destruction of enemy ground targets on land and water.
- I - Defense against enemy air or space weapons.
- L - Equipped with sensors to detect missile launches .
- M - Collecting, evaluating and analyzing technical and scientific data.
- N - Providing navigation data .
- Q - Remote controlled or automatically controlled aircraft .
- S - Spacecraft launch, maintenance and retrieval.
- T - For training purposes.
- U - attack from underwater targets.
- W - Weather observation , recording and transmission of meteorological data.
Type
- B - Booster for driving a payload.
- M - guided missile with internal or external controls to control your flight path.
- N - Instrumented probe, which does not reach orbital speed ( 1st cosmic speed ).
- R - unguided missile.
- S - satellite .
Design number
The design number is a consecutive number that is assigned to each model that differs significantly from its predecessors within the same main purpose.
variant
The designation of the variant differs within the individual armed forces. Usually consecutive letters starting with "A" are given. The letters "I" and "O" are omitted to avoid confusion with the numbers "1" and "0".
Surname
As well as for everyday use in the military as well as for the public, aircraft are often given nicknames. A name is assigned by the US Air Force Headquarters at the suggestion of the armed forces concerned after examining various criteria.
Examples
Take-off platform ( aircraft ) A. Main purpose (air defense) I. Type (missile) M. Consecutive number 9 variant L. Surname Sidewinder
Launch platform ( ship ) R. Main purpose (ground targets) G Type (missile) M. Consecutive number 109 variant E. Surname tomahawk
Launch platform ( submarine ) U Main purpose (submarines) U Type (missile) M. Consecutive number 44 Surname Subroc
Launch platform ( missile silo ) L. Main purpose (ground targets) G Type (missile) M. Consecutive number 118 variant A. Surname Peacekeeper
See also
literature
- AFI 16-401 (I) US Forces Instruction on the System (PDF, English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Department of The Air Force: Designating And Naming Defense Military Aerospace Vehicles. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 12, 2014 ; Retrieved April 29, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
