When I joined the Navy, we learned that the Primary Mission was the First letter to the left of the dash. Any subsiquent letters before that letter further modified the function of that aircraft:
So EA-6B is Special Electronic Attack...
I'm not sure why they Navy has strayed from this naming scheme? So is the CMV-22 a Transport Mine countermeasures VSOTL aircraft?
So EA-6B is Special Electronic Attack...
I'm not sure why they Navy has strayed from this naming scheme? So is the CMV-22 a Transport Mine countermeasures VSOTL aircraft?
NAVEDTRA 14014 said:The present system of designating naval aircraft was initiated in late 1962. This system applies to all U.S. military aircraft. All the aircraft designations have one thing in common—a hyphen. The letter just before the hyphen specifies the basic mission, or type, of aircraft. The basic mission letters are as follows:
A—Attack
B—Bomber
C—Transport
E—Special electronic installation
F—Fighter
H—Helicopter
K—Tanker
O—Observation
P—Patrol
R—Reconnaissance
S—Antisubmarine
T—Trainer
U—Utility
V—VTOL and STOL
X—Research
If the aircraft has been modified from its original mission, a letter in front of the basic mission letter indicates its modified mission. Mission modification letters are as follows:
A—Attack
C—Transport
D—Director (for controlling drone aircraft or missiles)
E—Special electronic installation
H—Search/rescue
K—Tanker
L—Cold-weather aircraft (for Arctic or Antarctic operations)
M—Mine countermeasures
O—Observation
P—Patrol
Q—Drone
R—Reconnaissance
S—Antisubmarine
T—Trainer
U—Utility
V—Staff
W—Weather
All the aircraft designations have one thing in common—a hyphen; for example, the F/A-18E Hornet has a multipurpose role. The first letter(s) identify its mission. A number after the hyphen specifies the design number of the aircraft. A letter other than A (A being the original design) after the design number shows a change in the original design. For example, in F/A-18E, the F means fighter and A means attack aircraft. Its design number is 18, and it has been modified four times, represented by the E (fifth letter of the alphabet). Another example is the A-6A. When it is modified to perform early-warning missions, it then becomes the EA-6B Prowler because of the special electronic installation required for such missions. If both the special-use letter and the modified mission letter apply to the same aircraft, the special-use letter comes first. For example, YEP-3E refers to a prototype (Y), early warning (E), patrol aircraft (P), design number 3, and the design has been modified four times.
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