US MILTARY AIRCRAFT DESIGNATIONS
AS SPECIFIED IN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PUBLICATION 4120.15-L MISSION, DESIGN, AND SERIES SYSTEM (MDS)
AIRCRAFT DESIGNATIONS:
VEHICLE TYPE :(eg. type of aircraft such as helicopter or vertical takeoff. Conventional aircraft i.e. F-15 omit this)
G - Glider
H - Helicopter
S - Spaceplane
V - VTOL/STOL
Z - Lighter than air
MISSON TYPE: (eg. primary mission the aircraft was designed to fufill)
A - Attack
B - Bomber
C - Cargo/ transport
E - Special electronic installation
F - Fighter
O - Observation
P - Patrol
R - Reconnaissance:
ER - Electronic Reconnaissance
SR - Strategic Reconnaissance
TR - Tactical Reconnaissance
S - Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
T - Trainer
U - Utility
X - Research
MODIFICATION: (eg. a secondary function that the aircraft has been modified to fufill)
A - Ground Attack
C - Cargo/transport
D - Drone control
E - Electronic functions
F - Fighter
H - Search and Rescue
K - Tanker (eg. Kerosene Tanker)
L - Cold weather
M - Multi-mission (eg. Special Forces)
O - Observation
P - Patrol
Q - Drone
R - Reconnaissance
S - Anti-Submarine Warfare
T - Trainer
U - Utility
V - VIP transport
W - Weather
STATUS: (eg. a non-standard status of the aircraft for a particular reason)
G - Permanently grounded (eg. due to airframe fatigue)
J - Special test (temporary)
N - Special test (permanent)
X - Experimental
Y - Prototype
Z - Planning
NUMBER: A number assigned to a specific design (not necessarily in order)
SERIES: Indicates major modifications to the design alphabetically
These designations are used in the following order:
(STATUS)(MODIFICATION)(MISSION)(TYPE)-(NUMBER)(SERIES)
eg. GAV-8B (a grounded vertical-takeoff attack aircraft, in this case a Harrier)