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British military aircraft designations are used to refer to
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom. Since the end of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
,
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
types in British military service have generally been known by a service name (e.g. "Spitfire"), with individual variants recognised by mark numbers often in combination with a letter to indicate the role. This is in contrast to identification systems used in countries such as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, where an aircraft type is primarily identified by an alphanumeric designation. The British military aircraft designations (e.g. "Spitfire Mark V" or "Hercules C3") should not be confused with the
serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...
used to identify individual aircraft (e.g. "XR220"), nor with U.S. aircraft designations (e.g. "C-5", "C-17", "MQ-9") or manufacturer's designations (e.g. "
Sikorsky S-58 The Sikorsky H-34 "Choctaw" (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when ad ...
", "Jaguar B", " WS-61", " AW139", " WAH-64"), though Mark numbers were used to indicate aircraft built for other nations e.g. Hawker Hunter Mk 58 was a Hunter F.6 for the Swiss Air Force. No designation system was introduced during World War I that covered more than the products of a single manufacturer. The
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
frequently referred to designs by the serial of the first aircraft of that type to be accepted for service.


The military designation system

In this system, which has been used since the end of World War I, each aircraft designation consists of a name, (sometimes) a role prefix and a mark number. A unified official naming system was introduced in February 1918 by the
Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis ...
, the scheme would use classes of names related to the role. Fighter aircraft were to be animals, plants or minerals, bomber aircraft were to have geographical names and "heavy armoured machines" would be personal names from Mythology. The classes were further divided by size of aircraft and land or sea-based, for example a three-seater sea-based fighter would be named after
shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environ ...
. Italian towns were to be used for single-seat land-based bombers. Following the formation of the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in April 1918 the Ministry of Munitions introduced a new system as ''Technical Department Instruction 538''. They mainly followed the February 1918 scheme but certain names already used for engines were excluded, for example birds of prey were used by Rolls-Royce Ltd. The names related to zoology, geography and mythology were withdrawn in 1927 and the Air Ministry introduced names with the initial letters relating to role, for example "C" for troop carriers as used by the Handley Page Clive. A further change was made in 1932 and 1939 to use more appropriate names. Fighters were to use "General words indicating speed, activity or aggressiveness" and trainer would be "words indicationg tuition and places of education". Bombers were to be named after inland towns in the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
, for example the
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stir ...
and
Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and ...
(after
Battle, East Sussex Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the south-east and Bexhill-on-Sea to the south. ...
, the site of the
Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...
). With the introduction of helicopters these were to be named after trees but only the Bristol Sycamore was named in this scheme.


Names

The name ("type name") of an aircraft type would be agreed between the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...
or
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
and the manufacturer/importer when the order was placed. Names generally followed one or a number of patterns: *
Alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
was particularly common; e.g. aircraft from
Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...
were given names starting with V,
Hawker Aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...
, names starting with H, etc. This began during the First World War, when aircraft manufacturers were given an initial pairing of letters to use in the naming of their aircraft: e.g. Boulton Paul Ltd were given "Bo". From this and the requirement to use the names of birds or insects for fighter aircraft, their first in-house fighter design was the Boulton Paul Bobolink. For bombers the additional requirement was a placename, hence the
Boulton Paul Bourges The Boulton & Paul P.7 Bourges was a prototype British twin-engined biplane day bomber built by Boulton & Paul to replace the Airco DH.10 Amiens. Despite demonstrating excellent performance and manoeuvrability, only three prototypes were buil ...
; and its contemporaries – the
Airco DH.10 Amiens The Airco DH.10 Amiens was a twin-engined heavy bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airco. It performed the first nighttime air mail service in the world on 14-15 May 1919. The DH.10 was developed in the final ye ...
and Vickers Vimy (
Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, ...
,
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
and
Vimy Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers wh ...
all being in France). *
Heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range ( takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larg ...
s received the names of cities and towns –
Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...
,
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stir ...
, Handley Page Halifax. Likewise transport aircraft also received the names of cities and towns –
Avro York The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of La ...
,
Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing m ...
,
Handley Page Hastings The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings is a retired British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, ...
,
Blackburn Beverley The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a heavy transport aircraft produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was notably the only land-based transport airplane built by Blackburn, a company that otherwise specialised in pr ...
. *
Flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...
s were given the names of coastal or port communities – Saro London, Supermarine Stranraer,
Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...
. * Land-based
maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol ro ...
were named for naval explorers –
Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...
( George Anson, 1st Baron Anson), Lockheed Hudson (
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
), Avro Shackleton (
Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...
), Bristol Beaufort (
Francis Beaufort Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer, rear admiral of the Royal Navy, and creator of the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descende ...
). * Aircraft for army co-operation and liaison and gliders were given names associated with mythological or legendary leaders; e.g.
Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft' ...
,
Airspeed Horsa The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War. It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited, alongside various subcontractors; the type was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century ...
, General Aircraft Hamilcar,
Slingsby Hengist The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. Like other British troop carrying gliders in the Second World War, it was named after military figures whose name began with H, in this case the ...
. A sense of irony was present when some of the names were chosen as Hengist and Horsa were the mythical leaders when the Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded the British Isles in the 5th century. * American aircraft, whether purchased directly or sourced under
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
, were given American-themed names following established patterns, e.g. the Martin Baltimore,
Consolidated Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...
. The American services, with the exception of the U.S. Navy, were not generally in the habit of giving aircraft names, and many British-chosen names would later be adopted; e.g. the
North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
began life as the North American Mustang Mk.I with the RAF. U.S. Navy names, conversely, were being increasingly adopted by the Fleet Air Arm as 1942 and 1943 progressed, as in the case of the
Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlant ...
shedding its alternative Fleet Air Arm "Martlet" name in favour of "Wildcat", the original American naval name. * Naval versions of aircraft not originally ordered for the Fleet Air Arm were given the prefix "''Sea''" such as with the
Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British variants Hurricane Mk I ; Hurricane Mk I ...
and de Havilland Sea Venom while Seafire for the navalised
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...
was a contraction of "Sea Spitfire". Sometimes the naval version entered service without a corresponding land-based type doing so, as with the
Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft ...
and
de Havilland Sea Vixen The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1950s through to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by ...
. * Naval aircraft ordered as such had names with a nautical theme – e.g.
Supermarine Walrus The Supermarine Walrus (originally designated the Supermarine Seagull V) was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and manufactured by Supermarine at Woolston, Southampton. The Walrus f ...
,
Blackburn Roc The Blackburn Roc (company designation B-25) was a naval fighter aircraft designed and produced by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It took its name from the mythical bird of the tales of the Arabian Nights, the Roc. It was ope ...
, Fairey Gannet. Torpedo bombers were given 'fish' names, e.g.,
Blackburn Shark The Blackburn Shark was a carrier-borne torpedo bomber designed and built by the British aviation manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was originally known as the Blackburn T.S.R., standing for ''torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance'', in reference to ...
,
Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was also us ...
,
Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda ...
. Mythological names, particularly with an association with water were common, such as Blackburn Iris – named for the goddess of sea and sky, and Nimrod the mighty hunter, used for the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod and Hawker Nimrod. Nimrod aside, many naval fighters were named for birds – such as the Fairey Flycatcher, Fairey Fulmar,
Blackburn Skua The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single- radial engine aircraft by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It was the first Royal Navy carrier-borne all-metal cantilever monoplane aircraft, as well as t ...
and, before the aforementioned adoption of the U.S. Navy's existing names for Fleet Air Arm aircraft of American origin, Grumman Martlet (the martlet being a heraldic bird) for the F4F fighter. * Training aircraft were given names related to academic institutions –
Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
,
North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...
,
Boulton Paul Balliol The Boulton Paul Balliol and Sea Balliol are monoplane advanced trainer aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Boulton Paul Aircraft. On 17 May 1948, it became the world's first single-engined turboprop aircraft to ...
, Fairchild Cornell. As with other American aircraft purchased, appropriate US names were used – the
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
universities. Alternative names for teachers were also used – De Havilland Dominie, Percival Provost,
Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics. The Magister ...
, Percival Proctor. * Aircraft built for one role such as the
Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...
or
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.41 Albemarle was a twin-engine transport aircraft developed by the British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth and primarily produced by A.W. Hawksley Ltd, a subsidiary of the Gloster Aircraft Company. It was ...
but converted to other roles rarely changed their names. However significant changes in a design might result in a name change – the
Avro Manchester The Avro 679 Manchester was a British twin-engine heavy bomber developed and manufactured by the Avro aircraft company in the United Kingdom. While not being built in great numbers, it was the forerunner of the famed and vastly more successful ...
was renamed
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stir ...
, which was in turn renamed
Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and I ...
(initially Lancaster Mark IV) as the design was improved, however the Lincoln had more in common with the Manchester than the late models of
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
did with the early versions so it wasn't consistent. *A trend might also be followed by a manufacturer –
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
,
Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
,
Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
, Tempest. *Where civilian aircraft types have been taken into service, their existing names or alphanumeric designations have often been retained, e.g. the Vickers VC10 or Lockheed TriStar. The systems began to change in the immediate post-Second World War period with the V bombers and types such as the Supermarine Scimitar. The RAF's three post-war jet-engined,
swept wing A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investiga ...
strategic bombers were given names beginning with "V" –
Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's " V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in respon ...
,
Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe an ...
and
Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final '' V bomber'' to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avr ...
(the
V bomber The "V bombers" were the Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear strike force known officially as the V force or Bomber Command Main Force. The three models of strategic ...
s).


Role prefixes

Role prefixes used at various times comprise:


Mark numbers

Starting in the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...
, variants of each operational type were usually indicated by a mark number, a
Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
added to the type name, usually preceded by "Mark", "Mk." or "Mk" (e.g. Fury Mk I). Mark numbers were allocated sequentially to each new variant, the new mark number signifying a 'major' change such as a new engine-type. Sometimes an alphabetic suffix was added to the mark number to indicate a minor change (e.g. Bulldog Mk IIA). Occasionally, this letter indicated a change in role, e.g. the Blenheim Mk I bomber was adapted to the Blenheim Mk IF long-range fighter. Sometimes a minor but otherwise significant change in an aircraft would necessitate a new mark number, e.g., when the Lancaster I was fitted with Packard-built Merlin engines, which used a different make of carburettor from the Rolls-Royce-built ones, the Lancaster I became a Lancaster III. Otherwise, these two aircraft were identical in appearance and performance and normally indistinguishable from each other but needed to be identified differently for maintenance. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, as aircraft ordered for one purpose became adapted to a multitude of roles, mark numbers became prefixed with letters to indicate the role of that variant. Aircraft of the same mark that were adapted for different purpose would then be differentiated by the prefix. For instance the Defiant Mk I was adapted to a
night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
, the Defiant NF Mk II, some of which were later converted to target tugs as the Defiant TT Mk II. Where there was a ''Sea-'' variant, this would have its own series of mark numbers (e.g. the Seafire Mk I was derived from the Spitfire Mk V). Occasionally other 'minor' but nonetheless important changes might be denoted by series numbers, preceded by "Series", "Srs." or "Srs" (e.g. Mosquito B Mk IV Series I / B Mk IV Series II – the different series number denoting the introduction, after a few initial production aircraft, of extended engine
nacelles A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
to eliminate buffeting. This design change was made standard on all subsequent production Mosquitoes). The series number denoted a revision during the production run of a particular Mark. This again could then have an additional letter-suffix (e.g. the Halifax Mk II Series IA). Export variants of British military aircraft are usually allocated mark numbers (sometimes without a role prefix) from a higher range of numbers, usually starting at Mark 50. A converse convention was adopted for the Canadian-designed de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk, where the sole British service variant was designated Chipmunk T.10. Up until the end of 1942, the RAF always used
Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
s for mark numbers. 1943–1948 was a transition period during which new aircraft entering service were given
Arabic numeral Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers such as ...
s for mark numbers but older aircraft retained their Roman numerals. From 1948 onwards, Arabic numerals were used exclusively. Thus, the Spitfire PR Mk XIX became the PR Mk 19 after 1948. With this change, the ''Sea-'' variants were allocated their own range within one common series for all variants (e.g. the Hawker Fury Mk I was followed by the Sea Fury F.10, Sea Fury FB.11 etc.).


Format of designation

The system has been largely unchanged since 1948 with the addition of more prefixes as new roles have arisen. For example, the first
Lockheed Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...
variant in RAF service was the Hercules C.1 ("Cargo, Mark 1"). A single example was adapted for weather monitoring purposes and became the Hercules W.2. The stretched variant became the Hercules C.3. With aircraft with a long service life, as their function changes over time, the designation letters and sometimes the mark digit will change to reflect this. The practice of restarting the mark numbers for the naval variant where the name was changed continued – e.g. the naval version of the Harrier, the Sea Harrier, marks started again at FRS Mk 1 – whilst variants where the name was unchanged for the naval version such as the
Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, ...
have a single set of numbers for both land and naval variants. In the case of the Sea King, which began as a naval aircraft, the RAF kept the name and it also has a single set of numbers. The post-1948 mark numbers are variously presented in full (e.g. Hercules C Mk 3) or abbreviated (e.g. Hercules C3) forms, and either with or without a
full stop The full stop (Commonwealth English), period (North American English), or full point , is a punctuation mark. It is used for several purposes, most often to mark the end of a declarative sentence (as distinguished from a question or exclamatio ...
between the prefix and mark number. The use of the "Mark" or "Mk." has gradually been dropped.


Other designation systems used for UK military aircraft


Specification numbers

From 1920 to 1949, most aircraft had an associated Air Ministry specification number.
Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...
aircraft would be produced under contract and would be referred to by Manufacturer Name and Specification Number. If accepted they would get a service name. For example, the "Fairey 6/22" was built to meet the 6th specification issued in the year 1922; it was accepted as the Fairey Flycatcher. Later, a preceding letter was added to the Specification Number to identify the type of aircraft; e.g. specification B.28/35 for a bomber was the 28th specification issued in 1935; in this case the specification was specifically written for the Bristol 142M, a modification of Bristol's Type 142 private venture civil aircraft (''Britain First'') for military use as a bomber, which would enter service as the Bristol Blenheim Mk 1 light bomber.


Manufacturers designations

From about 1910, the largest single designer of aircraft for the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
's
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
was the Royal Aircraft Factory. The Royal Aircraft Factory designated its types according to either the layout of the aircraft or its role – e.g. Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5, the "S.E." prefix representing Scouting Experimental. In practice successful Royal Aircraft factory designs were largely built by other manufacturers though still known by the Factory designations Some examples of manufacturers designations and the corresponding service designations are shown below:
: Avro 549A = Aldershot II : Vickers VC10 Type 1180, the tenth "Vickers Civil" design, were (Type 1106) VC10 C1 transports converted to have additional tanker role; known in service as Vickers VC10 C1K : Westland WAH-64 Apache = Apache AH1


US designations

For some aircraft types (e.g. the
C-17 The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
which is currently known in RAF service as the "C-17 Globemaster III" ) the UK armed services have used the US designation rather than assigning their own designation.


See also

*
United Kingdom military aircraft serials United Kingdom military aircraft serial numbers are aircraft registration numbers used to identify individual military aircraft in the United Kingdom (UK). All UK military aircraft are allocated and display a unique registration number. A uni ...
* Japanese military aircraft designation systems * United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation * Soviet Union military aircraft designation systems *
List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force Many aircraft types have served in the British Royal Air Force since its formation in April 1918 from the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. This is a list of RAF aircraft, including all currently active and retired ...


Notes and references

;Notes ;Bibliography
UK & Canada Aircraft Designation Systems at aerospaceweb.org


* Gordon Wansbrough-White: ''What's in a name?'' In: Aeroplane Monthly, 11/1994, pages 52–55. * Gordon Wansbrough-White: ''What's in a name?'' In: Aeroplane Monthly, 12/1994, pages 48–52. * Owen Thetford: ''Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918'' 6th edition. Putnam & Co., London 1976, . {{DEFAULTSORT:British Military Aircraft Designation Systems
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...