The Italian Armed Forces aircraft designation system is a unified designation system introduced by the Italian Armed Forces in 2009 for all Italian military aircraft.[1] The system is based on the United States Armed Forces 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system.

Designation system

The designation system produces a Mission-Design-Series (MDS) designation of the form:

(Status Prefix)(Modified Mission)(Basic Mission)(Vehicle Type)-(Design Number)(Series Letter)

Of these components, only the Basic Mission, Design Number and Series Letter are mandatory. In the case of special vehicles a Vehicle Type symbol must also be included.

List of assigned aircraft designations

A - Attack

AV-8 - McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II
A-11 - AMX International AMX
A-200 - Panavia Tornado

C - Transport

C-27 - Alenia C-27J Spartan
C-42 - ATR 42
C-50 - Dassault Falcon 50
C-130 - Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules
C-180 - Piaggio P.180 Avanti
C-222 - Aeritalia G.222
C-228 - Dornier 228
C-319 - Airbus A319
C-900 - Dassault Falcon 900

E - Electronics

E-550 - Gulfstream G550 CAEW

F - Fighter

F-16 - Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon
F-35 - Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
F-2000 - Eurofighter Typhoon

G - Glider

G-2 - Schempp-Hirth Ventus 2
G-4 - Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4
G-17 - LAK-17
G-21 - Caproni Vizzola Calif
G-103 - Grob G103 Twin Astir

H - Helicopter

H-3 - Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King
H-47 - Boeing CH-47 Chinook
H-90 - NHIndustries NH90
H-101 - AgustaWestland AW101
H-109 - Agusta A109
H-129 - Agusta A129 Mangusta
H-139 - AgustaWestland AW139
H-169 - AgustaWestland AW169
H-205 - Agusta-Bell AB 205
H-206 - Agusta-Bell AB 206
H-212 - Agusta-Bell AB 212
H-249 - Leonardo Helicopters AW249
H-412 - Agusta-Bell AB 412
H-500 - Breda Nardi NH-500E

KC - Tanker

KC-707 - Boeing 707T/T
KC-767

P - Patrol

P-42 - ATR 42
P-72 - ATR 72
P-1150 - Breguet Atlantic

Q - UAV

Q-1 - General Atomics MQ-1 Predator
Q-7 - AAI RQ-7 Shadow
Q-9 - General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
Q-10 - APR Strix C
Q-11 - AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven
Q-12 - APR Sixton
Q-24 - APR Asio-B
Q-25 - APR Spyball-B
Q-26 - APR Crex-B
Q-27 - Boeing Insitu ScanEagle
Q-28 - IA-3 Colibrì quadcopter[2]

T - Trainer

T-260 - SIAI-Marchetti SF.260
T-339 - Aermacchi MB-339
T-345 - Aermacchi M-345
T-346 - Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master
T-2006 - Tecnam P2006T

U - Utility

U-166 - Piaggio P.166
U-208 - SIAI-Marchetti S.208

See also

References

  1. ^ "Utilizzo della Nomenclatura "Mission Design Series" (MDS) nelle Pubblicazioni Tecniche (PP.TT.) di competenza della DAAA AER(EP).0-0-12" (PDF). Ministero Della Defesa. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  2. ^ IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi IA-3 Colibrì

External links

Italian Armed Forces aircraft designation system, 2009–present
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