RE: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature

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From: "Alfie Finch" <alfie.finch@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Subject: RE: [OT] USAF plane nomenclature
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 21:14:16 +0100
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 > -----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

Alfie

Almost totally correct.. M is also for mine-sweepers as well. (MH-53)

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