United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation

Joint Regulation 4120.15E: Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles is the current system for designating all aircraft, helicopters, rockets, missiles, spacecraft, and other aerial vehicles in military use by the United States Armed Forces.

United States Department of Defense Directive 4120.15 "Designating and Naming Military Aircraft, Rockets, and Guided Missiles" was originally issued November 24, 1971 and named the Air Force as the Executive Agent empowered to carry out the directive.

The current version was enacted by Joint Regulation 4120.15E Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles[4][Note 1] and was implemented[5][Note 2] via Air Force Instruction (AFI) 16-401, Army Regulation (AR) 70-50, Naval Air Systems Command Instruction (NAVAIRINST) 13100.16 November 3, 2020.

[7][6] There are two basic components to a craft's identity: its vehicle designation and its popular name.

Finally, there may be variant and block identifiers which clarify the exact configuration of the vehicle.

Pilots often have their own nicknames for their aircraft which may bear only coincidental resemblance (if that) to the official popular name, although some pilot nicknames are similar or even derived from the official popular name (such as "Bug" and "Super Bug" for the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet).

Current applicable symbols are as follow: The design number is separated from the earlier components by a dash.

Configuration/component numbers signify changes that "affect performance, tactics, or integral components of a weapon system."

The block number specifies a group of aircraft produced to the same specifications by the manufacturer.

Authorized current status prefixes are: All rockets and missiles contain a symbol to indicate the launch method, be it from the air, ground, sea, etc.

Configuration/component numbers signify changes that "affect performance, tactics, or integral components of a weapon system."