AeroFile
Military Aircraft Designations and Systems
Sample Page
Here is a teaser for you -- a sample of a designation listing.
To give you all an idea of what to expect in Military Aircraft Designations and Systems, I have put this page together. Being the patriotic Canadian, I have chosen the listing of Canadian Forces designations.
Each designation listing is divided up into three sections. A history and description is first, and this outlines how the designation system for that country or force is layed out and used. This also features a small sample of the layout of the designation. Next is a legend of the letter and letter combinations used in the designation system. Finally, the third section is the designation listing(s) proper. In the case of the Canadian Forces, only one system or "type" is used, however, in the U.S. Military, for example, many different "types" of designations or roles are employed, and these are listed alphabetically.
This is the exact format used in Military Aircraft Designations and Systems and the data was taken directly from the book.
I hope you find this enough to whet your appetite -- for now.
Canadian Forces
DESCRIPTION
Although at first glance Canada's military aircraft designation system is very similar to the U.S. Military system, as it is based on the latter, it is actually closer to the German "8" Series of World War II. In the Canadian Forces system, while the mission letters are the same as the U.S. system, i.e., "C" for cargo/transport, "F" for Fighter, etc., the number does not refer to the series of the role letter but is rather a type number, similar to the German "8" Series. In this way, it is actually a hybrid of both systems. The Canadian Forces' system has evolved over the years, as Canada originally did not employ any standardized aircraft designation system at all.
Initially, as the Royal Canadian Air Force was an extension of the British Royal Air Force, and due to most of their aircraft being of British origin, Canada used aircraft names and mark numbers to designate aircraft in the same way as Great Britain, i.e., Avro Anson Mk.V. However, in the 1950s, with the adoption of many U.S. designed aircraft, Canada began to use the original U.S. designations as their own. This practice applied to aircraft used by both the RCAF and the Royal Canadian Navy; aircraft used by the RCAF featured U.S. military designations, i.e., C-119 and F-86, while U.S. aircraft used by the RCN featured U.S. Naval designations, i.e., TBM-3E and F2H-4. One notable exception to this were the Grumman Trackers used by the RCN which utilized the original U.S. Naval designation prefixed by the letter "C", as in CS2F-1, denoting that the aircraft were Canadian variants built by de Havilland Canada. Surprisingly, this practice was not also applied to the F-86 Sabres of the same period used by the RCAF, which were Canadian variants built by Canadair. Aircraft of British origin during this period, however, still retained their original British designations, i.e., Fairey Firefly FR.1 and Hawker Sea Fury FB.11. A third designation system also began to emerge at this point. The Avro Canada all-weather interceptor was taken on-strength by the RCAF and the manufacturer's designator, C.100, was used as the basis for the designation, becoming CF-100. This was also the case for the Arrow, C.105 becoming CF-105, and the unbuilt C.103/CF-103 project.
With the myriad of aircraft designations flying around, the need for one standardized system became more and more urgent. When the RCAF gave way to the unified Canadian Armed Forces in February 1968, a standardized designation was finally adopted. In this system, a three digit number is be assigned to an aircraft type. i.e., 107, which is prefixed by a two letter combination, always commencing with "C", which indicates the aircraft role or mission, i.e., CP-107, indicating Canadian Patrol aircraft number 107. Subsequent changes to the aircraft's role or mission would change the role letter but not the aircraft number. For example, the CC-142 is the standard military transport version of the Dash 8, however, CT-142 indicates the same aircraft type used as an navigation training aircraft. Sometimes, as in the U.S. Military system, a change in variant brings a change in the common name as well, i.e., the CP-140 Aurora and the improved CP-140A Arcturus.
As in the U.S. Military system, variants are indicated by a letter immediately following the number, these corresponding to their U.S. counterparts, i.e., CC-130E, the fifth variant of the standard CC-130. However, these letters may not always be sequential as not all variant types are employed by the CAF. For example, in the series of CC-130s, the variants went from CC-130B to CC-130E as this was the next variant procured.
The aircraft type numbers themselves are not always sequential, and are assigned based on a variety of reasons, for example, aircraft originating from the United States, manufacturers' designators, etc. While efforts have been made to keep the aircraft designation similar to those used by the U.S. Military, usually by the addition of the prefix "C", i.e, CF-101, CF-104, CC-130 and CC-137, and by the allocation of a similar three digit type number, i.e., CT-133 (T-33), CH-147 (H-47) and CF-188 (F/A-18), this is not always the case. Some aircraft types feature radically different designations than those used by their U.S. counterparts, i.e., CF- 116 (F-5), CH-124 (SH-3), CC-128 (C-47) and CP-140 (P-3). In addition, most of the aircraft used by the Canadian Armed Forces feature numbers assigned arbitrarily in a pseudo-chronological sequence which has created a few "gaps" or omissions; the numbers 102, 151-154 and 157-187 have not been assigned.
The aircraft type number is also used as part of the individual aircraft's serial number. Originally, aircraft of the RCAF were numbered sequentially, as are U.S. Naval aircraft. However, with the adoption of the standardized type number, a six digit serial number was brought into usage. The first three numbers of the serial number indicate the type, while the last three numbers indicate the individual aircraft. In types where only a few aircraft are procured, only two numbers are used to indicate the individual aircraft, i.e., the CC-137, of which only five aircraft are employed by the CAF. Older aircraft used the last three numbers of their original serial number as the aircraft identification in the new serial number, i.e., CF-100 number 18784 became 100784, while CC-130 number 10305 became 130305. Finally, an aircraft's colloquial "name" may be quite different from its designation. For example, although the aircraft is officially designated CF-116, it is referred to as the CF-5, and although officially designated the CF-188, the aircraft is called the CF-18.
CF-188D
1 2 3
1 Role designator (prefaced with "C") 3 Variant letter
2 Type number .
LEGEND
CC - Cargo / Transport CSR- Search and Rescue
CE - Electronic Warfare CT - Trainer
CF - Fighter ET - Electronic Warfare Trainer
CH - Helicopter KCC- Tanker Cargo / Transport
CP - Maritime Patrol
Canadian Forces
1968 - Present
NO. MANUFACTURER COMMON NAME BUILT IN USE
CF-100 Avro Canada Canuck 692 1951-1981
CF-101 Avro Canada CF-101 0 1947
CF-101 McDonnell Voodoo 132 1961-1984
C-102 Designation Not Used 0 -
CF-103 Avro Canada CF-103 0 1955
CF-104 Lockheed Starfighter 238 1963-1986
CF-105 Avro Canada Arrow 5 1957-1959
CC-106 Canadair Yukon 12 1959-1971
CP-107 Canadair Argus 33 1957-1982
CC-108 de Havilland Caribou 9 1960-1971
CC-109 Canadair Cosmopolitan 10 1966-1994
CSR-110 Grumman Albatross 10 1960-1970
CF-111 Lockheed Starfighter [CF-104] 1 1963
CH-112 Hiller Nomad 27 1961-1972
CH-113 Boeing Vertol Labrador 18 1963->
CT-114 Canadair Tutor 190 1963->
CC-115 de Havilland Buffalo 15 1967-2002
CF-116 Canadair Freedom Fighter 195 1968-1995
CC-117 Dassault-Breguet Falcon 7 1967-1989
CH-118 Bell Iroquois 10 1968-2000
CO-119 Cessna Bird Dog 25 1954-1973
CO-119 Cessna 182 10 1961-1973
CT-120 de Havilland Chipmunk 100 1948-1971
CP-121 Grumman Tracker 101 1956-1991
CP-122 Lockheed Neptune 25 1955-1968
CSR-123 de Havilland Otter 69 1953-1982
CH-124 Sikorsky Sea King 41 1963->
CH-125 Vertol Work Horse 20 1954-1968
CH-126 Sikorsky Choctaw 6 1955-1971
CH-127 Vertol V.44 3 1960-1968
CT-128 Beech Expeditor 394 1941-1968
CC-129 Douglas Dakota 169 1943-1989
CC-130 Lockheed Hercules 33+ 1960->
CX-131 Canadair Dynavert 3 1969-1971
CC-132 de Havilland Dash 7 2 1979-1990
CT-133 Lockheed Silver Star 656 1953->
CE-133 Lockheed Silver Star 9 1994-2000
CT-134 Beechcraft Musketeer 50 1971-1992
CH-135 Bell Twin Huey 50 1971->
CH-136 Bell Kiowa 74 1971->
CC-137 Boeing 707 5 1970-1997
CC-138 de Havilland Twin Otter 9 1971->
CH-139 Bell JetRanger 14 1981-1993
CP-140 Lockheed Aurora 18 1980->
CP-140A Lockheed Arcturus 3 1991->
CC-141 Lockheed Starlifter 0 -
CC-142 de Havilland Dash 8 2 1990->
CT-142 de Havilland Dash 8 4 1991->
CH-143 MBB-Kawasaki BK-117 1 1990
CC-144 Canadair Challenger 15 1983->
CE-144 Canadair Challenger 3 1984-1992
CP-144 Canadair Challenger 3 1995
CX-144 Canadair Challenger 1 1984-1992
CT-145 Beechcraft King Air 3 1990->
CH-146 Bell Griffon 100 1994->
CH-147 Boeing Vertol Chinook 9 1974-1991
CH-148 E.H. Industries Chimo (EH 101 - ASW 0 1993
CH-149 E.H. Industries Petrel (EH 101 - SAR) 0 1993
CH-149 Westland / Augusta Cormorant 15 2001->
CC-150 Airbus Industrie Polaris (A310) 5 1992->
C-151
| Not Yet Allocated 0 -
C-154
CT-155 British Aerospace Hawk 26 2000->
CT-156 Raytheon Harvard II 24 2000->
C-157
| Not Yet Allocated 0 -
C-187
CF-188 McDonnell Douglas Hornet 107 1983->
© David R Townend 2002
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