RE: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
> [mailto:owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Thomas Barclay
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 5:23 AM
> To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
> Subject: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature
>
>
> Hi guys,
>
> Drawing upon the collected wit of the body.
>
> I see some USAF planes tagged with F (F-15, F-
> 16, etc), some with F/A, some with VF, etc.
>
> What do these mean? I'm guessing F is for
> fighter, B is for bomber, V is a qualifier
> meaning Vertol or Vectored thrust... but what
> are some of the others like the /A?
>
> And what's the Osprey? A VT-22 ? (T for
> Transport?)
>
> Is X experimental?
>
> And what kind of tags get stuck on CAS planes
> like the Warthog (A for attack)? Didn't the
> Sandy's (from Nam era) have a different sort of
> designator?
>
> I further assume H (as in Huey UH1H) is
> helicopter, U perhaps univeral? And the A in AH-
> 64 is attack helicopter?
>
> Am I even playing in the right ballpark? :)
>
> (I ask because I'm thinking about CAS and
> tactical transport planes like A-10s and
> tiltrotors like the Osprey or the QTR in the
> context of SG2 and DS2).
>
You're quite close...The official US Aircraft Systems
designations for variants is ;

A  Attack
B  Bomber
C  Cargo
D  Drone
E  Electronic
F  Figher
G [not used]
H  Search and Rescue (SAR)
I [not used]
J  Test - Temporary
K  Tanker
L  Polar
M  Multi-Mission
N  Test - Permanent
O  Observation
P  Patrol
Q  Target
R  Reconnaissance
S  Anti-Submarine
T  Trainer
U  Utility
V  VIP
W  Weather
X  Experimental
Y  Prototype
Z  Lighter-Than-Air

...from http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/list/index.html
but obviously this is not always followed, as H is usually used
as the second letter for helicopter, not SAR as noted.

So, F-15 = Fighter number 15, F/A-18 =Attack Fighter number 18,
Osprey is V-22 (MV for Marine and CV for Air Force), UH-1H is
Utility Helicopter number 1 model H, AH-64 = Attack Helicopter
number 64.

HTH