United States of America military aircraft designation systems - Definition and Overview

The United States Military Aircraft Designation System was first designed in 1919 when the US Army's Aeronautical Division became the United States Army Air Service.

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-36 bomber kept its previous designation.
• 1962 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-111) were not re-designated, however.

A comprehensive explanation can be found at Systems of Designation (http://www.driko.org/usdes2.html).

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 Guard aircraft)
• 1956 United States Army Air Forces aircraft designation system
• 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system

See also

• Military aircraft

External Link

• US Designations (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/usdes.html)