USSR military aircraft designation systems

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Imperial Russia (before 1917) does not seem to have had a system. Aircraft were given names or numerical designations by manufacturers, like Ilya Muromets or Anatra Anasal.

Soviet System to 1940

Type Prefixes

A (А) - Avtozhir (Autogiro)

B (Б) - Bombardirovshchik (Bomber)

BB (ББ) - Blizhnij bombardirovshchik (Short-range Bomber)

BSh (БШ) - Bronirovannyi Shturmovik (Armored Attack plane)

DB (ДБ) - Dalnij bombardirovshchik (Long-range Bomber)

I (И) - Istrebitel ("Destroyer" = Fighter)

M (М) - Morskoi (Seaplane)

MBR (МБР) - Morskoi blizhnii razvedchik (Short-range Reconnaissance Seaplane)

MDR (МДР) - Morskoi dalnii razvedchik (Long-range Reconnaissance Seaplane)

MI (МИ) - Mnogomestnii istrebitel (Multi-seat Fighter)

MP (МП) - (Transport Seaplane)

MR (МР) - Morskoi razvedchik (Reconnaissance Seaplane)

PS (ПС) - Passazhirskii samolyot (Passenger plane)

R (Р) - Razvedchik (Reconnaissance)

SB (СБ) - Skorostnoi bombardirovshchik (High-speed Bomber)

SPB (СПБ) - Skorostnoi pikiruyuschii bombardirovshchik (High-speed Dive Bomber)

T (Т) - Torpedonosets (Torpedo bomber) ("Torpedo carrier")

TB (ТБ) - Tiazholyi bombardirovshchik (Heavy Bomber)

TSh (ТШ) - Tiazholyi Shturmovik (Heavy Attack plane)

U (У) - Uchebny (Trainer)

UT (УТ) - Uchebno-trenirivochnyi (Primary/Advanced Trainer)

UTI (УТИ) - Uchebno-trenirivochnyi Istrebitel (Fighter Trainer)

VIT (ВИТ) - Vozdushnyi Istrebitel Tankov (Air Tank Destroyer)

Fighters

I-1: Polikarpov

I-2: Grigorovich

I-3: Polikarpov (1-seat biplane with open cockpit and fixed undercarriage)

I-4: Tupolev ANT-5 (1-seat sesquiplane)

I-5: Polikarpov-Grigorovich

I-6:

I-7:

I-8: Tupolev ANT-13 (prototype only)

I-12

I-13:

I-14: Tupolev ANT-31 (1-seat monoplane with enclosed cockpit and retractable undercarriage)

I-15: Polikarpov TsKB-3 (1-seat biplane with `gull' upper wing open cockpit and fixed undercarriage)

I-15bis/I-152: Polikarpov TsKB-3bis (re-engined and other minor changes)

I-15ter/I-153: Polikarpov TsKB-3ter (re-engined and retractable undercarriage)

I-16: Polikarpov TsKB-12/18/29 (1-seat monoplane with open cockpit and retractable undercarriage)

I-17: Polikarpov TsKB-15/19/33 (1-seat monoplane with in-line engine and retractable undercarriage)

I-18:

I-19:

I-21: Pashinin (only 5 built - prototype fighter from Ilyushin may share designation)

I-22: Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov (later designated LaGG-1)

I-26: Yakovlev Krasavec `Beauty' (later designated Yak-1)

I-28: Yatsenko (constructed from resin-bonded wood)

I-61 or I-200: Mikoyan-Gurevich (later designated MiG-1)

Bombers

DB-1: Tupolev/Sukhoi bomber variant of ANT-25

DB-2: Tupolev/Sukhoi ANT-37 (cancelled bomber derivative of ANT-25)

DB-3: Ilyushin TsKB-30 (2-engine all-metal monoplane), later version (DB-3F) was designated Il-4

SB or SB-2: Tupolev ANT-40 (2-engine all-metal monoplane)

TB-1: Tupolev ANT-4 (2-engine all-metal monoplane)

TB-2: Polikarpov

TB-3: Tupolev ANT-6 (4-engine all-metal monoplane)

TB-4: Tupolev ANT-16 (6-engine all-metal monoplane)

TB-5: Grigorovich

TB-6: Tupolev ANT-26 (12-engine all-metal monoplane, cancelled)

TB-7: Tupolev ANT-42 (4-engine all-metal monoplane, later designated Pe-8)

Soviet system since 1940

Contrary to western sources, official Soviet designations did not include constructors' names (eg. Yakovlev Yak-1), only abbreviations (ie. Yak-1). But at the beginning names like Yakovlev-1 was used sometime. In general, this naming practice was adopted from German, except for numbering. Germans have numbered aircraft sequentially regardless of developer, while USSR used "semi-sequential" (odd numbers for fighters, even numbers for bombers/transport with well known exceptions like Tu-95 or An-225) numbers within every developer "label." These names were given to aircraft when they enter the service. Aircraft may have development names (used within design bureaus, like "105" (read as "aircraft 105," count as "ANT-105") for future Tu-22 or T-6 for Su-24) and/or production name (used by industry). This schema was established in ~1940. Before this date soviet aircraft were named according to their function: TB-1 for "Tyazholy Bombardirovschik" ("тяжелый бомбардировщик", "heavy bomber"), the first. Again, this is a soviet practice. Pre-revolutionary Russia (and early Soviet Republic) have used only "vendor names" like "Farman F-20" or "Ilya Muromets" (by I.Sikorski).

The NATO Air Standardization Coordinating Committee reporting name system (used because correct designation of new types not always known) was based on having the initial letter indicate type of aircraft (B = bomber, C = cargo, F = fighter, H = helicopter, M = miscellaneous) or missile, and 1 syllable if propeller-driven or 2 if jet- or rocket-powered.

Design Office Prefixes

An (Ан): Antonov

Ar (Ар): Archangelskii

BI (БИ): Berezniak-Isaev

Be (Бе): Beriev

Che (Че): Chetverikov

Gu (Гу): Gudkov

La (Ла): Lavochkin

LaG (ЛаГ): Lavochkin-Gorbunov

LaGG (ЛаГГ): Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov

Il (Ил): Ilyushin

Ka (Ка): Kamov

Li (Ли): Lisunov

M (М): Myasishchev

Mi (Ми): Mil

MiG (МиГ): Mikoyan-Gurevich, until the death of Artem Mikoyan in 1970, then just Mikoyan

Pe (Пе): Petlyakov

Po (По): Polikarpov

Su (Су): Sukhoi

Shch (Ще): Shcherbakov

Ta (Та): Tairov

Tu (Ту): Tupolev (earlier: ANT (for A.N.Tupolev, the number sequence is still in use))

Yak (Як): Yakovlev (earlier: AIR (for A.I.Rykov, one of communist leaders))

Yer (Ер): Yermolayev

See also

• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation

• [List of aircraft names at aviation.ru]

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