1962 United States Tri-Service missile and drone designation system
From 1962 the U.S. Department of Defense established a unified missile and rocket designation sequence, which is used in all weapons of the kind produced in the USA.
Explanation
The basic designation of every guided missile is based in a set of letters, which are in sequence. 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
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 |
| 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.
See also
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Missile. |
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Look up missile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |