Home > United States of America military aircraft designation systems

1 History

• 1920 to 1947 the United States Army Air Service / United States Army Air Corps / United States Army Air Force used a designation system based on mission category, with each model in a category numbered in turn.
• 1922 to 1962 the United States Navy (including United States Marine Corps) used a completely separate designation system, based on both mission and manufacturer.
• 1947 to 1962 the United States Air Force used a mission-based system different to, but derived from, the 1920-1947 system. For instance, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (Pursuit) was re-designated as F-80 (Fighter), but the Convair B-36The Convair B-36 (officially named the "Peacemaker", but the name is rarely used) was an American strategic bomber aircraft, and the largest bomber ever flown by the United States. The design process began in 1941, the first prototype flew in 1945, and th bomber kept its previous designation.
• 1962Events January January 1 Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand January 3 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro January 4 New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board January 8 Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is e to now a joint system of mission-based designations was used, with most of these re-starting from 1. Various previously-designated models (such as the F-111General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark Description RoleAll-weather attack Crew1 Pilot, 1 Weapons Systems Officer Dimensions Length73. 4 m Wingspan (spread)63 ft19. 2 m Wingspan (swept)31. 74 m Height17. 22 m Wing area (spread)657. 07 m² Wing area (swept)525 ft²4) were not re-designated, however.

A comprehensive explanation can be found at Systems of Designation.

2 Individual System Pages

• 1919 United States Army Air Service aircraft designation system
• 1924 United States Army Air Service aircraft designation system also applied to aircraft of the United States Army Air Corps, United States Army Air Force and United States Air Force
• 1948 United States Air Force aircraft designation system
• 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system (includes United States Marine Corps and United States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is the coast guard of the United States. One of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and the smallest armed service of the United States, it has a broad and important role in law enforcement, search-and-rescue, aircraft)
• 1956 United States Army Air Forces aircraft designation system
• 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation systemOn the 18 September 1962, the United States Department of Defence introduced a unified designation system for the aircraft of the United States armed forces. Prior to this date, each service used their own nomenclature system. The 1962 system was based on