Missile designation

The U.S. Department of Defense established a missile and rocket designation sequence,^[1] 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;

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

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

• List of missiles

References

1. ^ "Designating and Naming Defense Military Aerospace Vehicles". Air Force e-Publishing. Air Force Departmental Publishing Office (AFDPO). 2005-04-14. http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFI16-401_IP.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-29.  (Attachment 4, pp. 20–24.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Missile

Look up missile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.