User:ZLEA/sandbox/Canadian Armed Forces aircraft designation system
The Canadian Armed Forces aircraft designation system is a standardized system introduced by the CAF in 1968.
Description[edit]
The designation system uses a similar format to the United States Tri-Service designation system. The format is as follows:
- ("C")(Mission)-(Design Number)(Series Letter)
All designations start with "C" for Canada.[1]
Mission letter[edit]
Following the "C" is a letter denoting the aircraft's mission. They are:[1]
- C: Cargo (i.e. Transport)
- E: Special electronic installation
- F: Fighter
- H: Helicopter
- O: Observation (obsolete)
- P: Maritime patrol/Reconnaissance/Anti-submarine warfare
- SR: Search and rescue (obsolete)
- T: Trainer
- U: Unmanned aerial vehicle
- X: Experimental
Other mission letters were defined in addition to those listed above, but they were never used.[1]
Design number[edit]
Unlike the US Tri-Service system, which has separate sequences for all missions, the CAF system has a unified sequence for all missions. This sequence contains three-digit numbers starting at 100. This number is also used as the first three digits of an aircraft's serial number. Improved versions of aircraft are rarely assigned new numbers. Aircraft were often assigned out-of-sequence numbers to match manufacturer or foreign designations.[1]
Series letter[edit]
An optional series letter may be used to denote an aircraft's variant. These are assigned alphabetically, with I and O being omitted to avoid confusion with the numbers 1 and 0, respectively. The following letters are reserved for specialized variants:[1]
- D: Two-seat variant of a single-seat aircraft
- NT: Navigation trainer
List of designations[edit]
100–150[edit]
- CF-100 Canuck – Avro Canada
- CF-101 Voodoo – McDonnell
- 102 – Not assigned
- CF-103 – Avro Canada
- CF-104 Starfighter – Canadair (redesignated from CF-111)
- CF-105 Arrow – Avro Canada
- CC-106 Yukon – Canadair
- CP-107 Argus – Canadair
- CC-108 Caribou – de Havilland Canada
- CC-109 Cosmopolitan – Canadair
- CSR-110 Albatross – Grumman
- CF-111 Starfighter – Canadair (redesignated CF-104)
- CH-112 Nomad – Hiller
- CH-113 Labrador/Voyageur – Boeing Vertol
- CT-114 Tutor – Canadair
- CC-115 Buffalo – de Havilland Canada
- CF-116 Freedom Fighter – Canadair (unofficially known as CF-5)
- CC-117 Falcon – Dassault
- CH-118 Iroquois – Bell
- CO-119 Bird Dog – Cessna
- CO-119 Skylane – Cessna (conflicting designation)
- CT-120 Chipmunk – de Havilland Canada
- CP-121 Tracker – de Havilland Canada
- CP-122 Neptune – Lockheed
- CSR-123 Otter – de Havilland Canada (redesignated CC-123)
- CC-123 Otter – de Havilland Canada (redesignated from CSR-123)
- CH-124 Sea King – Sikorsky
- CH-125 – Piasecki Helicopter
- CH-126 – Sikorsky
- CH-127 – Piasecki Helicopter
- CT-128 Expeditor – Beechcraft
- CC-129 Dakota – Douglas
- CC-130 Hercules – Lockheed
- CX-131 Dynavert – Canadair
- CC-132 Dash 7 – de Havilland Canada
- CT-133 Silver Star – Canadair
- CT-134 Musketeer – Beechcraft
- CH-135 Twin Huey – Bell
- CH-136 Kiowa – Bell