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Military Plane Designation

All Air Force combat types since June 11, 1948, have had but two designations: "F" for fighter, and "B" for bomber, as in the F-86 and B-50. Reconnaissance versions are prefixed by "R" as the RF-80 and RB-45C. Previous to that, a variety of letters are seen, beginning with the random names and designations made by individual firms up to 1919. Most companies continue their own numbering series, but from 1919 to 1924 the Air Service used an adaptation of the French system. A more simplified classification was then used until 1948, with many modifications. Table [below] lists older designations used by Army combat planes, with the dates in use.

We might mention the block designations used on World War II Army planes to denote minor modifications and factory of origin. Thus, the Douglas A-24A-DE was built at the El Segundo, California, plant; the A-20B-DL at the Long Beach, California, facility; the A-20C-DO at the main Santa Monica, California, shop, and the A-24-DT at the firm's Tulsa, Oklahoma, shop. The Boeing-designed B-17G-VE was built by Lockheed's subsidiary, Vega.

Navy combat aircraft today are known as "F" for fighter, "A" for attack, and "P" for patrol. These designations were simplified in March 1946 from the older system which included combinations of "TB" (torpedo bomber) and "PB" (patrol bomber). Naval aircraft are listed by a manufacturer's letter, with modification letters following. Thus, the P5M-2 is the fifth patrol design by Martin, second model, and the F6C-1 the sixth fighter by Curtiss, first model. Designations previous to about 1925 are an anarchy of privately placed labels. Like the Army, the Navy uses X as a prefix for experimental, as the XF12C-1.

A new joint Department of Defense designation system was established in 1962. In the future, fighters of both services will be numbered in the same series. Although the system did not change most existing Air Force combat aircraft, all Navy types did change. The manufacturer's letter was dropped in favor of the block letter showing factory of origin. Thus the ASD-2 became the A-3B-DL.

Letters Assigned To Manufacturers Of Combat Types
(Dates indicate last deliveries of now defunct firms)

To the above list should be added suffixes sometimes added since World War II to denote special modifications, such as the F4U-5N. On combat types they include:

A-Amphibious version	L-Searchlight version
B-Special Armament version	M-Missile launcher
C-Carrier version	N-Night version
D-Special Drop Tank version	P-Photographie version
E-Special Electronic Gear version	Q-Radar Countermeasure version
G-Search-Rescue version	S-Antisubmarine version
K-Target Drone version	W-Early Warning version

NOTE:
The USAF does still use the "A" prefix for certain attack aircraft, including the A-10 and the AC-130. Arguably, the MH-53 (Pave Low III) is also a pretty robust combat platform as well. There are other letter families for supporting aircraft, but they aren't direct combat platforms. There's tons of information on the Air Force website at: Air Force Link - Fact Sheets. Anyway, I like your site a lot. Keep up the good work!

ANDREW T. KROG, Major, USAF

Jane's Historic Military Aircraft Recognition Guide This most comprehensive directory of all the historic military aircraft flying today covers the fascinating world of vintage and veteran aircraft, from pre-World War II biplanes to the F-4 Phantom. 500+ color photos & illustrations.

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