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NATO reporting names are
code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...
s for military equipment from
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and historically, the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
(
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and other nations of the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manner in place of the original designations, which either may have been unknown to the
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
at the time or easily confused codes. For example, the Russian bomber jet
Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (russian: Туполев Ту-160 Белый лебедь, translit=Belyj Lebeď, translation= White Swan; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Des ...
is simply called "Blackjack".
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
maintains lists of the names. The assignment of the names for the Russian and Chinese aircraft was once managed by the five-nation
Air Standardization Coordinating Committee The Air Force Interoperability Council or AFIC is an organisation tasked with enhancing military coalition, coalition military aviation amongst the "Five Eyes" countries, which consist of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Unit ...
(ASCC), but that is no longer the case.


American variations

The
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
(DOD) expands on the NATO reporting names in some cases. NATO refers to
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
systems mounted on ships or submarines with the same names as the corresponding land-based systems, but the US DoD assigns a different series of numbers with a different suffix (i.e., SA-N- vis-à-vis. SA-) for these systems. The names are kept the same as a convenience. Where there is no corresponding system, a new name is devised.


Soviet nicknames

The Soviet Union did not always assign official "popular names" to its aircraft, but unofficial
nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
s were common as in any
air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
. Generally, Soviet pilots did not use the NATO names, preferring a different, Russian, nickname. An exception was that Soviet airmen appreciated the
MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...
's codename "Fulcrum", as an indication of its pivotal role in Soviet air defence. Zuyev, A. and Malcolm McConnell. ''Fulcrum: A Top Gun Pilot's Escape from the Soviet Empire''. Warner Books, 1993. .


Nomenclature

To reduce the risk of confusion, unusual or made-up names were allocated, the idea being that the names chosen would be unlikely to occur in normal conversation, and be easier to memorise. For fixed-wing aircraft, single-syllable words denoted piston-prop and turboprop, while multiple-syllable words denoted jets. Bombers had names starting with the letter 'B' and names like "Badger" ( Tupolev Tu-16), "Blackjack" (
Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (russian: Туполев Ту-160 Белый лебедь, translit=Belyj Lebeď, translation= White Swan; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Des ...
) and "Bear" (
Tupolev Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the ...
) were used. "Frogfoot," the reporting name for the
Sukhoi Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач (''rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Gro ...
, references the aircraft's
close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
role. Transports had names starting with 'C' (for "cargo"), which resulted in names like "Condor" for the Antonov An-124 or "Candid" for the
Ilyushin Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comm ...
.


Lists of NATO reporting names


Missiles

The initial letter of the name indicated the use of that equipment. * A—air-to-air missiles, example AA-2 Atoll:
List of NATO reporting names for air-to-air missiles NATO reporting name for AA series air-to-air missiles, with Soviet designations: * AA-1 "Alkali" (Kaliningrad K-5) * AA-2 "Atoll" (Vympel K-13) * AA-3 "Anab" (Kaliningrad K-8) * AA-4 "Awl" (Raduga K-9) * AA-5 "Ash" (Bisnovat R-4) * AA-6 "Acr ...
* K—air-to-surface missiles (from the Russian Kh designation), example AS-17 Krypton: List of NATO reporting names for air-to-surface missiles * G—surface-to-air missiles, SAM (or Ground-to-air), including ship- and submarine-launched, example SA-2 Guideline: List of NATO reporting names for surface-to-air missiles * S—surface-to-surface missiles, **ship- and submarine-launched. Land-based missiles have the prefix SS-, for example the SS-1 Scud. Naval missiles receive the designation SS-N-, e.g.
SS-N-2 Styx The P-15 ''Termit'' (russian: П-15 "Термит"; en, termite) is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was ''Styx'' or SS-N-2. China ...
. Coastal defence missiles are assigned the prefix SS-C-, e.g. SS-C-5 Stooge:
List of NATO reporting names for surface-to-surface missiles NATO reporting name for SS series surface-to-surface missiles, with Soviet designations: * SS-1 "Scunner" (R-1) and "Scud" (R-11/R-300) * SS-2 "Sibling" (R-2) * SS-3 "Shyster" (R-5/R-5M) * SS-4 "Sandal" (R-12) * SS-5 "Skean" (R-14) * SS-6 " ...
** reporting named for anti-tank missiles include
AT-5 Spandrel The 9M113 ''Konkurs'' (russian: 9М113 «Конкурс»; en, "Contest"; NATO reporting name AT-5 ''Spandrel'') is a Soviet SACLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile. A development of the 9K111 Fagot with greater firepower, the 9M113 Konkurs can ...
:


Aircraft

The first letter indicates the type of aircraft, like eg 'Bear' for a bomber aircraft refers to the
Tupolev Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the ...
, or 'Fulcrum' for the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG- ...
fighter aircraft. For fixed-wing aircraft, one-syllable names are used for propeller aircraft and two-syllable name for aircraft with jet engines. This distinction is not made for helicopters. * F—fighter aircraft, also later ground attack aircraft:
List of AFIC reporting names for fighter aircraft The " Five Eyes" Air Force Interoperability Council (AFIC) assigns codenames for fighters and other military aircraft originating in, or operated by, the air forces of the former Warsaw Pact, including Russia and the People's Republic of China. ...
* B—bomber aircraft:
List of NATO reporting names for bomber aircraft This is a list of NATO reporting name/ASCC names for bombers, with Soviet Union and Chinese designations. Bombers had names starting with the letter "B"; single-syllable words denoted propeller driven aircraft (piston and turboprop engines), whil ...
* C—commercial aircraft and airliners, and cargo aircraft: List of NATO reporting names for transport aircraft * H—helicopters:
List of NATO reporting names for helicopters Helicopters, NATO/ ASCC names: See also * NATO reporting name {{Helicopters and rotorcraft helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopt ...
* M— miscellaneous names are used for
trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...
,
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
,
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
s,
tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...
, Airborne early warning


Submarines

Before the 1980s, reporting names for submarines were taken from the NATO
spelling alphabet A spelling alphabet ( also called by various other names) is a set of words used to represent the letters of an alphabet in oral communication, especially over a two-way radio or telephone. The words chosen to represent the letters sound sufficient ...
. Modifications of existing designs were given descriptive terms, such as "
Whiskey Long Bin Whiskey-class submarines (known in the Soviet Union as Projects 613, 640, 644, and 665) are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period. Design The initial design was developed in the ...
". From the 1980s, new designs were given names derived from Russian words, such as " Akula", or "shark". These names did not correspond to the Soviet names. Coincidentally, "Akula", which was assigned to an attack submarine by NATO, was the actual Soviet name for the ballistic missile submarine NATO named " Typhoon-class". The NATO names for submarines of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
are taken from Chinese dynasties. * List of NATO reporting names for submarines


Equipment

*
List of NATO reporting names for equipment This is a list of NATO names for Soviet radars and ELINT systems. For additional reporting names, see NATO reporting names. NATO reporting names *Ball End – common navigational radar. *Band Stand – Missile tracking and control *Bass Tilt – M ...


Notes


References


External links


Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles

Aerospace Web
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nato Reporting Name Naming conventions Military aviation Naval warfare Code names