In 1963, the U.S. Department of Defense established a designation system for rockets and guided missiles jointly used by all the United States armed services.[1] It superseded the separate designation systems the Air Force and Navy had for designating US guided missiles and drones, but also a short-lived interim USAF system for guided missiles and rockets.[2]
History
On 11 December 1962, the U.S. Department of Defense issued Directive 4000.20 “Designating, Redesignating, and Naming Military Rockets and Guided Missiles” which called for a joint designation system for rockets and missiles which was to be used by all armed forces services. The directive was implemented via Air Force Regulation (AFR) 66-20, Army Regulation (AR) 705-36, Bureau of Weapons Instruction (BUWEPSINST) 8800.2 on 27 June 1963.[3][4][5] A subsequent directive, DoD Directive 4120.15 "Designating and Naming Military Aircraft, Rockets, and Guided Missiles", was issued on 24 November 1971 and implemented via Air Force Regulation (AFR) 82-1/Army Regulation (AR) 70-50/Naval Material Command Instruction (NAVMATINST) 8800.4A on 27 March 1974. Within AFR 82-1/AR 70-50/NAVMATINST 8800.4A, the 1963 rocket and guided missile designation system was presented alongside the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system and the two systems have been concurrently presented and maintained in joint publications since.[6][7][8]
The current version of the rocket and missile designation system was mandated by Joint Regulation 4120.15E Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles[9][Note 1] and was implemented[10][Note 2] via Air Force Instruction (AFI) 16-401, Army Regulation (AR) 70-50, Naval Air Systems Command Instruction (NAVAIRINST) 13100.16 on 3 November 2020.[11] The list of military rockets and guided missiles was maintained via 4120.15-L Model Designation of Military Aerospace Vehicles until its transition to data.af.mil on 31 August 2018.[11][12]
Explanation
The basic designation of every rocket and guided missile is based in a set of letters called the Mission Design Sequence.[1] The sequence indicates the following:
- The environment from which the weapon is launched
- The primary mission of the weapon
- The type of weapon
Examples of guided missile designators are as follows:
- AGM – (A) Air-launched (G) Surface-attack (M) Guided missile
- AIM – (A) Air-launched (I) Intercept-aerial (M) Guided missile
- ATM – (A) Air-launched (T) Training (M) Guided missile
- RIM – (R) Ship-launched (I) Intercept-aerial (M) Guided missile
- LGM – (L) Silo-launched (G) Surface-attack (M) Guided missile
The design or project number follows the basic designator. In turn, the number may be followed by consecutive letters, representing modifications.
- Example:
- RGM-84D means:
- R – The weapon is ship-launched;
- G – The weapon is designed to surface-attack;
- M – The weapon is a guided missile;
- 84 – eighty-fourth missile design;
- D – fourth modification;
- RGM-84D means:
- Example:
In addition, most guided missiles have names, such as Harpoon, Tomahawk, Seasparrow, etc. These names are retained regardless of subsequent modifications to the missile.
Code
Letter | Launch environment | Detailed description |
---|---|---|
A | Air | Air-launched |
B | Multiple | Capable of being launched from more than one environment |
C | Coffin or Container | Stored horizontally or at less than a 45 degree angle in a protective enclosure and launched from the ground |
F | Individual or Infantry | Carried and launched by one man |
G | Ground | Other Ground-launched, such as runway |
H | Silo-stored | Stored vertically in a silo but raised to ground level for launch |
L | Land or Silo | Launched from a fixed site or hardened silo |
M | Mobile | Launched from a ground vehicle or movable platform |
P | Soft Pad | Partially or unprotected in storage and launched from the ground |
R | Surface ship | Launched from a surface vessel such as a ship, barge, etc. |
U | Underwater | Launched from a submarine or other underwater device |
Letter | Mission | Detailed description |
---|---|---|
D | Decoy | Vehicles designed or modified to confuse, deceive, or divert enemy defenses by simulating an attack vehicle |
E | Special Electronic | Vehicles designed or modified with electronics equipment for communications, countermeasures, electronic radiation sounding, or other electronic recording or relay missions |
G | Surface Attack | Vehicles designed to destroy enemy land or sea targets |
I | Intercept-Aerial | Vehicles designed to intercept aerial targets in defensive roles |
Q | Drone | Vehicles designed for target reconnaissance or surveillance |
S | Space | Vehicles designed to destroy space-based targets |
T | Training | Vehicles designed or permanently modified for training purposes |
U | Underwater attack | Vehicles designed to destroy enemy submarines or other underwater targets, or to detonate underwater |
W | Weather | Vehicles designed to observe, record, or relay data pertaining to meteorological phenomena |
Letter | Vehicle type | Detailed description |
---|---|---|
M | Guided Missile | An unmanned, self-propelled vehicle with remote or internal trajectory guidance |
R | Rocket | A self-propelled vehicle whose flight trajectory cannot be altered after launch |
N | Probe | A non-orbital instrumented vehicle used to monitor and transmit environmental information |
Prefixes
An X preceding the first letter indicates an experimental weapon, a Y preceding the first letter means the weapon is a prototype, and a Z preceding the first letter indicates a design in the planning phase.
See also
- List of missiles
- 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system
- United States military aircraft designation systems
Notes
References
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External links
Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 63: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of missile at Wiktionary