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Military Aircraft Designations and Systems

Revised 2009 Edition

ISBN 978-0-9732020-0-7

The Third Edition of Military Aircraft Designations and Systems is a soft-cover book of 8 1/2 x 11 format.

Larger than the First Edition from 2002, the 2009 Third Edition now features 294 pages.

A completely reorganized structure allows for easier reference of the various designations "within" a given system, and for accessing the various designation systems.

Here are some details on the book.

Details

For clarity, when a designation listing is featured on two (or more) pages, the column headings now are displayed at the top of each page. Finally, and with, I am sure, much appreciation from many readers, the infamous footnotes have been removed.

To allow for more information to be included, the margins have now been extended slightly, both on each sides as well as top and bottom.

As well as being completely updated with information up to June 2009, many new listings have been added. The 2009 Edition adds six additional systems. These include the Australian Defence Force, Danish Naval Air Service & Army Air Troops, the modern Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) and the United States Navy 1911 & 1914 Systems. The most interesting new additions to the work are those designation systems utilized by the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm from 1918 until present day. These had been originally intended for inclusion in the previous edition, however, due to their unusual format, had to be postponed until now.

In addition to the new systems themselves, further listings and descriptions have been added to many of the original sections. The Japanese Army Air Force chapter now includes a listing of the aero engine designations employed, while the Japanese Navy Air Force section adds both listings of the Experimental Shi Numbers and Service Aeroplane Development Program. The Soviet OKB System features an expanded section on the missile designations assigned by NATO (ASCC). As well, the US Military chapter now features a separate and expanded section of missile designations, as well as those designations utilized by NASA spacecraft. Furthermore, the description of the US Military Systems is now expanded to give more information on the 1919 System, the 1924 System and the 1948 System, as well as the separate US Army System in use from 1956 until 1962.

In addition to the various designation listings, five appendices are included at the end of the book. These appendices include: Designation Misnomers, a listing of “inaccurate” designations that do not follow the systems’ set rules; Cinematic Designations, a database of fictional movie and television aircraft designations; Aircraft Nomenclature, where names are used to designate aircraft and aircraft types; Aircraft Nicknames, some colloquial names (designations) for our favourite aircraft; and British Names for US Aircraft, a comparison chart of names from US to British usages.

Specifications

Here is a short list of some detailed specifications

Designations from ten countries
In all, fifteen different designation types
Two hundred and eighteen separate designation series
Over 12,000 separate designations listed

Featured Listings

Here is a listing of the featured designation listings and countries.

Australia – A listing of the three “A” Series designations from 1921.
Canada – All assigned numbers from 101 to 188 including our new trainers and SAR helicopter.

Danish Naval Air Service & Army Air Troops – Army And Navy aircraft from 1912 until 1940.
Germany World War One – The first standardized military aircraft designation system, with designations from 1913
                                                until 1919. All designation types included, including a list of both Air Force and Naval
                                                Rigid Airships.
Germany World War Two – Complete list of all known RLM Designations used by the Luftwaffe prior to, and up to
                                                the end of, World War II, including aircraft, engines and missiles.
Japan World War II – Listings of designations used by both the Japanese Army Air Force and the Japanese Navy
                                      Air Force from the 1930's through to the end of World War II, including a cross reference of all
                                      Allied Code Names.

Japanese Air Self-Defense Force – Listing of the modern Japanese air force aircraft.
Russia – Listings of the Pre-WWII and the OKB Design Bureaux designations are featured, plus a list of all ASCC (NATO)
reporting code names. A new revised and separate section on Missiles is now included.

Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) – Aircraft from the end of World War Two until present.
Sweden – Listings of the pre-WWII and sequential aircraft designations systems, plus missiles.

United Kingdom Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm – Designations used by the RAF and FAA from 1942 until present day.
United States Military – USAAC, USAAF, USAF, US Army & Tri-Service designations from 1923 to present day, including
missiles and new, separate listings of US aero engines and missiles. As well, a section on NASA spacecraft designations.

United States Navy 1911 & 1914 Systems – The first designation systems used by the US Navy from 1911.
United States Navy – Listings of fixed wing aircraft up to 1962, as well as rigid airships up to 1940.
Appendices – These six sections cover Designation Misnomers, Cinematic Designations, Aircraft Nomenclature, Aircraft Nicknames and British Names for US Aircraft.

Have a look at a sample designation listing

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