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a designation system for rockets and guided missiles jointly used by all the United States armed services.[1] It superseded the separate designation systems the Air Force and Navy had for designating US guided missiles and drones, but also a short-lived interim USAF system for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]
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. 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.
The current version of the rocket and missile designation system was mandated by Joint Regulation 4120.15E Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles and was implemented via Air Force Instruction (AFI) 16-401, Army Regulation (AR) 70-50, Naval Air Systems Command Instruction (NAVAIRINST) 13100.16 on 3 November 2020. 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.[3]
The basic designation of every rocket and guided missile is based in a set of letters called the Mission Design Sequence. The sequence indicates the following:
Examples of guided missile designators are as follows:
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:
In addition, most guided missiles have names, such as Harpoon, Tomahawk, Sea Sparrow, etc. These names are retained regardless of subsequent modifications to the missile.
| + First letter designating launch environment | |||
| 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. | |
| S | Space | Launched from a vehicle that operates outside earth's atmosphere | |
| U | Underwater | Launched from a submarine or other underwater device |
| + Second letter designating mission symbol | |||
| Letter | Mission | Detailed description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Transport | Vehicle designed for transporting items from one place to another | |
| 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 | |
| L | Launch Detection | Vehicles designed for detecting and tracking satellites and missiles. | |
| M | Scientific | Vehicles designed for scientific purposes. | |
| N | Navigation | Vehicles to provide data for navigation purposes. | |
| Q | Drone | Vehicles designed for target reconnaissance or surveillance | |
| S | Space | Vehicles designed to support or 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 |
| + Third letter designating vehicle type symbol | |||
| Letter | Vehicle type | Detailed description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | Booster | A system to provide thrust for a satellite, missile, or aerospace vehicle. | |
| M | Guided Missile | An unmanned, self-propelled vehicle with remote or internal trajectory guidance | |
| N | Probe | A non-orbital instrumented vehicle used to monitor and transmit environmental information | |
| R | Rocket | A self-propelled vehicle whose flight trajectory cannot be altered after launch | |
| S | Satellite | A vehicle placed in orbit. |
Additionally, a prefix may be added to the designation indicating a non-standard configuration.
| + Optional Non-Standard Prefix | |||
| Letter | Vehicle type | Detailed description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| e | Digitally Developed | System developed in a virtual environment. | |
| C | Captive | Functional but inert vehicle incapable of being fired. | |
| D | Dummy | Non-flyable vehicle for ground crew training. | |
| J | Temporary Special Test | Vehicles temporarily modified for special test purposes. | |
| N | Permanent Special Test | Vehicles permanently modified for special test purposes. | |
| X | Experimental | Experimental vehicle | |
| Y | Prototype | Prototype vehicle | |
| Z | Planning | Vehicle that is still in the planning phase. |