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74-483: The Tri-Service aircraft designation system is a unified system introduced in 1962 by the United States Department of Defense for designating all U.S. military aircraft . Previously, the U.S. armed services used separate nomenclature systems . Under the tri-service designation system, officially introduced on 18 September 1962, almost all aircraft receive a unified designation, whether they are operated by

148-450: A K or R basic mission code in a manner conforming to the system. The vehicle type element is used to designate the type of aerospace craft. Aircraft not in one of the following categories (most fixed-wing aircraft) are not required to carry a type designator. The type categories are: A UAV control segment is not an aircraft, it is the ground control equipment used to command a UAV. Only in recent years has an aircraft been designated as

222-639: A Unified Command Plan —a frequently updated document (produced by the DoD), which lays out the Command's mission, geographical/functional responsibilities, and force structure. During military operations, the chain of command runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders of the Combatant Commands. As of 2019 , the United States has eleven Combatant Commands, organized either on

296-427: A $ 106 billion subtotal (the so-called "fourth estate" agencies such as missile defense, and defense intelligence, amounting to 16% of the defense budget), He will re-deploy to the modernization of hypersonics, artificial intelligence, and missile defense. Beyond 2021 the 27th secretary of defense is projecting the need for yearly budget increases of 3 to 5 percent to modernize. The Department of Defense accounts for

370-665: A centralized research authority, the Advanced Research Projects Agency , eventually known as DARPA . The act was written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration and was signed into law on August 6, 1958. The Secretary of Defense , appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate , is by federal law ( 10 U.S.C.   § 113 ) the head of the Department of Defense, "the principal assistant to

444-508: A design number equal to the model number (e.g., KC-767A ) or have kept the design number when they are transferred from one series to another (e.g., the X-35 became the F-35 ). Different versions of the same basic aircraft type are to be delineated using a single letter suffix beginning with " A " and increasing sequentially (skipping " I " and " O " to avoid confusion with the numbers " 1 " and " 0 "). It

518-447: A geographical basis (known as " area of responsibility ", AOR) or on a global, functional basis: Department of Defense spending in 2017 was 3.15% of GDP and accounted for about 38% of the budgeted global military spending – more than the next 7 largest militaries combined. By 2019, the 27th secretary of defense had begun a line-by-line review of the defense budget; in 2020 the secretary identified items amounting to $ 5.7 billion, out of

592-453: A modified mission code. They are: The multi-mission and utility missions could be considered the same thing; however they are applied to multipurpose aircraft conducting certain categories of mission. M-aircraft conduct combat or special operations while U-aircraft conduct combat support missions, such as transport (e.g., UH-60 ) and electronic warfare (e.g., MC-12 ). Historically, the vast majority of U.S. Coast Guard air assets included

666-569: A project but the aircraft was never built. The following table lists design numbers in the 1962 system which have been skipped. Since 1939, a 2-letter manufacturer's code has been added to designations to identify the manufacturer and the production plant. For example, F-15E-50-MC, the "MC" being the code for the McDonnell Douglas plant at St. Louis, Missouri. In 1941, block numbers were added to designations to show minor equipment variations between production blocks. The block number appears in

740-650: A spaceplane, the proposed MS-1A . According to the designation system, aircraft of a particular vehicle type or basic mission (for manned, fixed-wing, powered aircraft) were to be numbered consecutively, and the number series were restarted, causing some redesignated naval aircraft and subsequent new designs to overlap disused USAAC/USAAF designations (e.g., the Lockheed F-5 and Northrop F-5 ). Numbers were not to be assigned to avoid confusion with other letter sequences or to conform with manufacturers' model numbers. Recently this rule has been ignored, and aircraft have received

814-513: Is a military command composed of personnel/equipment from at least two Military Departments, which has a broad/continuing mission. These military departments are responsible for equipping and training troops to fight, while the Unified Combatant Commands are responsible for military forces' actual operational command. Almost all operational U.S. forces are under the authority of a Unified Command. The Unified Commands are governed by

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888-746: Is a parent agency of the following defense agencies: Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community . These are national-level intelligence services that operate under the Department of Defense jurisdiction but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence . They fulfill the requirements of national policymakers and war planners, serve as Combat Support Agencies , and also assist and deploy alongside non-Department of Defense intelligence or law enforcement services such as

962-607: Is alleged to be due to the Establishment's abbreviation, NME, being pronounced "enemy". Under the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 ( Pub. L.   85–599 ), channels of authority within the department were streamlined while still maintaining the ordinary jurisdiction of the Military Departments to organize, train, and equip their associated forces. The Act clarified the overall decision-making authority of

1036-467: Is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces . As of November 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense is the second largest employer in the world after India (and potentially China, if including

1110-494: Is in the Department of Energy budget, Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department's payments in pensions to military retirees and widows and their families, interest on debt incurred in past wars, or State Department financing of foreign arms sales and militarily-related development assistance. Neither does it include defense spending that is not military, such as the Department of Homeland Security, counter-terrorism spending by

1184-648: Is not clear how much modification is required to merit a new series letter, e.g., the F-16C production run has varied extensively over time. The modification of an aircraft to carry out a new mission does not necessarily require a new suffix (e.g., F-111Cs modified for reconnaissance are designated RF-111C), but often a new letter is assigned (e.g., the UH-60As modified for Search and Rescue missions are designated HH-60G ). Some series letters have been skipped to forestall confusion with pre-1962 naval designations; for instance, there

1258-613: The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The military services each have their intelligence elements that are distinct from but subject to coordination by national intelligence agencies under the Department of Defense. Department of Defense manages the nation's coordinating authorities and assets in disciplines of signals intelligence , geospatial intelligence , and measurement and signature intelligence , and also builds, launches, and operates

1332-846: The Department of the Army , the Department of the Navy , and the Department of the Air Force . In addition, four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ), the National Security Agency ( NSA ), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ( NGA ), and the National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ). Other Defense agencies include

1406-770: The F designation to attack-only aircraft, such as the F-111 Aardvark and F-117 Nighthawk . The only A designated aircraft currently in the U.S. Air Force is the A-10 Thunderbolt II . The last front line A designated in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps was the A-6 Intruder , with the only strictly A designated fixed-wing aircraft remaining is the A-29 Super Tucano leased under the Imminent Fury program. Of these code series, no normal aircraft have been assigned

1480-759: The Thirteen Colonies and the British government , one of the first actions taken by the First Continental Congress in September 1774 was to recommend that the colonies begin defensive military preparations. In mid-June 1775, after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War , the Second Continental Congress , recognizing the necessity of having a national army that could move about and fight beyond

1554-590: The United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army , United States Space Force (USSF), or United States Coast Guard (USCG). Experimental aircraft operated by manufacturers or by NASA are also often assigned designations from the X-series of the tri-service system. The 1962 system was based on the one used by the USAF between 1948 and 1962, which

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1628-595: The commanders of the Combatant Commands . Goldwater–Nichols also created the office of vice-chairman, and the chairman is now designated as the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and to the president. The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff at the Pentagon made up of personnel from all five services that assist

1702-511: The fiscal year 2024 (FY2024) presidential budget request was $ 842   billion. In January 2023 Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the US government would hit its $ 31.4   trillion debt ceiling on 19 January 2023; the date on which the US government would no longer be able to use extraordinary measures such as issuance of Treasury securities is estimated to be in June 2023. On 3 June 2023,

1776-511: The multirole fighter in the decades since the system was introduced has created some confusion about the difference between attack and fighter aircraft. According to the current designation system, an attack aircraft ( A ) is designed primarily for air-to-surface missions (also known as "attack missions"), while a fighter category F incorporates not only aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air warfare, but also multipurpose aircraft designed also for attack missions. The Air Force has even assigned

1850-676: The Army , Commandant of the Marine Corps , Chief of Naval Operations , Chief of Staff of the Air Force , and Chief of Space Operations ) over forces not assigned to a Combatant Command . Secretaries of Military Departments and service chiefs do not possess operational command authority over U.S. troops (this power was stripped from them in the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 ), and instead, Military Departments are tasked solely with "the training, provision of equipment, and administration of troops." A unified combatant command

1924-693: The Army , Secretary of the Navy , and Secretary of the Air Force . Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff no longer maintained operational command authority individually or collectively. The act designated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) as the "principal military adviser to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and

1998-604: The Central Military Commission), with over 1.4  million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91  million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia , just outside Washington, D.C. ,

2072-921: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ), the Defense Logistics Agency ( DLA ), the Missile Defense Agency ( MDA ), the Defense Health Agency ( DHA ), Defense Threat Reduction Agency ( DTRA ), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency ( DCSA ), the Space Development Agency ( SDA ) and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency ( PFPA ), all of which are subordinate to the secretary of defense. Additionally,

2146-600: The Defense Contract Management Agency ( DCMA ) is responsible for administering contracts for the Department of Defense. Military operations are managed by eleven regional or functional unified combatant commands . The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the Eisenhower School (ES) and the National War College (NWC). Faced with rising tensions between

2220-656: The Department of Defense are in Title 10 of the United States Code . Other significant legislation related to the Department of Defense includes: Combat Combat may comply with, or be in violation of, local or international laws regarding conflict. Examples of rules include the Geneva Conventions (covering the treatment of people in war), medieval chivalry , the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (covering boxing), and

2294-483: The Department of Defense is approximately $ 686,074,048,000 (Including Base + Overseas Contingency Operations + Emergency Funds) in discretionary spending and $ 8,992,000,000 in mandatory spending totaling $ 695,066,000,000 Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) David L. Norquist said in a hearing regarding the FY 2019 budget: "The overall number you often hear is $ 716 billion. That is the amount of funding for national defense,

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2368-537: The Department of Defense who advise the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council , the National Security Council and the president on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), senior enlisted advisor to the chairman (SEAC),

2442-521: The Department of Defense's stated mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security". The Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense , a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the president of the United States , the latter of which is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments:

2516-629: The FBI, and intelligence-gathering spending by the NSA. In the 2010 United States federal budget , the Department of Defense was allocated a base budget of $ 533.7 billion, with a further $ 75.5 billion adjustment in respect of 2009, and $ 130 billion for overseas contingencies. The subsequent 2010 Department of Defense Financial Report shows the total budgetary resources for fiscal year 2010 were $ 1.2 trillion. Of these resources, $ 1.1 trillion were obligated and $ 994 billion were disbursed, with

2590-610: The H-code (e.g., HH-60 Jayhawk or HC-130 Hercules ). In the 21st century, the Coast Guard has used the multi-mission designation for their armed rescue helicopters ( MH-60 Jayhawk or MH-65 Dolphin ). All aircraft are to be assigned a basic mission code. In some cases, the basic mission code is replaced by one of the modified mission codes when it is more suitable (e.g., M in MH-53J Pave Low III ). The defined codes are: The rise of

2664-587: The Intelligence Community's satellite assets. Department of Defense also has its own human intelligence service , which contributes to the CIA's human intelligence efforts while also focusing on military human intelligence priorities. These agencies are directly overseen by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security . The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is a body of senior uniformed leaders in

2738-565: The Military Service chiefs from the Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force , in addition to the chief of National Guard Bureau , all appointed by the president following U.S. Senate confirmation. Each of the individual Military Service Chiefs, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, works directly for the secretary of the military department concerned: the Secretary of

2812-584: The NDAA on 14 December 2023. The Senate will next undertake negotiations on supplemental spending for 2024. A government shutdown was averted on 23 March 2024 with the signing of a $ 1.2 trillion bill to cover FY2024. A 2013 Reuters investigation concluded that Defense Finance & Accounting Service , the Department of Defense's primary financial management arm, implements monthly "unsubstantiated change actions"—illegal, inaccurate "plugs"—that forcibly make DoD's books match Treasury's books. Reuters reported that

2886-532: The Navy (DON) & Department of the Air Force (DAF)), the Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities , the National Guard Bureau (NGB), and such other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands established or designated by law, or by the president or by the secretary of defense. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the organizational relationships within

2960-420: The Navy, and Marine Corps refer to it as Type/Model/Series (T/M/S). These optional prefixes are attached to aircraft not conducting normal operations, such as research, testing and development. The prefixes are: A temporary special test means the aircraft is intended to return to normal service after the tests are completed, while permanent special test aircraft are not. The Planning code is no longer used but

3034-416: The Pentagon was the only federal agency that had not released annual audits as required by a 1992 law. According to Reuters, the Pentagon "annually reports to Congress that its books are in such disarray that an audit is impossible". In 2015, a Pentagon consulting firm performed an audit on the Department of Defense's budget. It found that there was $ 125 billion in wasteful spending that could be saved over

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3108-558: The President in all matters relating to Department of Defense", and has "authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense". Because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the president, the statutory authority of the secretary of defense is derived from their constitutional authority. Since it is impractical for either Congress or the president to participate in every piece of Department of Defense affairs,

3182-589: The Secretary of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal and program evaluation and oversight, and interface and exchange with other U.S. federal government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, through formal and informal processes. OSD also performs oversight and management of the Defense Agencies, Department of Defense Field Activities, and specialized Cross Functional Teams . OSD

3256-450: The Secretary of Defense". The remaining Joint Chiefs of Staff may only have their advice relayed to the President, National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council , or the Secretary of Defense after submitting it to the CJCS. By law, the chairman has to present that advice whenever he is presenting his own. The chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense to

3330-499: The Secretary of Defense. After the end of World War II , President Harry Truman proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense. In a special message to the Congress on December 19, 1945, the president cited wasteful military spending and interdepartmental conflicts. Deliberations in Congress went on for months focusing heavily on the role of the military in society and the threat of granting too much military power to

3404-569: The Tri-Service system was partly brought about due to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara 's confusion and frustration with the different designation systems the Navy and Air Force used at the time which resulted in the F4H and F-110 both being used to refer to, essentially, the same aircraft. The Tri-Service aircraft designation system was presented alongside the 1963 rocket and guided missile designation system in Air Force Regulation (AFR) 82-1/Army Regulation (AR) 70-50/Naval Material Command Instruction (NAVMATINST) 8800.4A (published 27 March 1974) and

3478-428: The accounting code is 050 and includes more than simply the Department of Defense. It includes, for example, the Department of Energy and others. That large a number, if you back out the $ 30 billion for non-defense agencies, you get to $ 686 billion. That is the funding for the Department of Defense, split between $ 617 billion in base and $ 69 billion in overseas contingency ". The Department of Defense budget encompasses

3552-428: The annual federal expenditures in the United States federal budget discretionary budget . On September 28, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R.6157) into law. On September 30, 2018, the FY2018 Budget expired and the FY2019 budget came into effect. The FY2019 Budget for

3626-469: The boundaries of any particular colony, organized the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. This momentous event is commemorated in the U.S. annually as Flag Day . Later that year, Congress would charter the Continental Navy on October 13, and the Continental Marines on November 10. Upon the seating of the 1st U.S. Congress on March 4, 1789, legislation to create a military defense force stagnated as they focused on other concerns relevant to setting up

3700-406: The chairman and vice chairman in discharging their duties. It is managed by the Director of the Joint Staff (DJS) who is a lieutenant general or vice admiral . There are three military departments within the Department of Defense: The Military Departments are each headed by their secretary (i.e., Secretary of the Army , Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Air Force ), appointed by

3774-448: The combatants: Military combat always involves between two or more opposing military forces in warfare . Military combat situations can involve multiple groups, such as guerilla groups, insurgents , domestic and/or foreign governments . A military combat situation is known either as a battle or a war, depending on the size of the fighting and which geographical areas in which it occurs. Combat effectiveness has always demanded that

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3848-434: The control of a single secretary of defense . The National Military Establishment formally began operations on September 18, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first secretary of defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the "Department of Defense" on August 10, 1949, and absorbed the three cabinet-level military departments, in an amendment to the original 1947 law. The renaming

3922-440: The debt ceiling was suspended until 2025. The $ 886   billion National Defense Authorization Act is facing reconciliation of the House and Senate bills after passing both houses 27 July 2023; the conferees have to be chosen, next. As of September 2023, a Continuing resolution is needed to prevent a Government shutdown . A shutdown was avoided on 30 September for 45 days (until 17 November 2023), with passage of

3996-401: The department and is the foundational issuance for delineating the major functions of the department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987. The Office of the Secretary of Defense ( OSD ) is the secretary and their deputies, including predominantly civilian staff. OSD is the principal staff element of

4070-522: The designation between the model suffix and manufacturers code (for example F-100D-85-NH). Initially, they incremented in numerical order −1, −2, −3 but this was changed to −1, −5, −10, −15 in increments of five. The gaps in the block numbers could be used for post-delivery modifications—for example, a F-100D-85-NH could be modified in the field to F-100D-86-NH. Not all types have used block numbers. United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense ( DoD , USDOD , or DOD )

4144-425: The example, some F-13s during their service life may have been used for testing modifications or researching new designs and designated JF-13 or NF-13; finally after many years of service, the airframe would be permanently grounded due to safety or economic reasons as GF-13. Aircraft which are modified after manufacture or even built for a different mission from the standard airframe of a particular design are assigned

4218-403: The executive. On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 , which set up a unified military command known as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency , the National Security Council , National Security Resources Board , United States Air Force , and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The act placed the National Military Establishment under

4292-403: The individual rulesets of various combat sports. Hand-to-hand combat ( melee ) is combat at very close range, attacking the opponent with the body ( striking , kicking , strangling , etc.) and/or with a melee weapon ( knives , swords , batons , etc.), as opposed to a ranged weapon . Hand-to-hand combat can be further divided into three sections depending on the distance and positioning of

4366-404: The jurisdiction of other congressional committees. The Department of Defense is unique because it is one of the few federal entities where the majority of its funding falls into the discretionary category. The majority of the entire federal budget is mandatory, and much of the discretionary funding in the budget consists of DoD dollars. * Numbers may not add due to rounding As of 10 March 2023

4440-447: The latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the DoD earned 61 out of a possible 100 points, a D− grade. While it had improved from a failing grade in 2013, it still had low scores in processing requests (55%) and disclosure rules (42%). The organization and functions of

4514-452: The majority of federal discretionary spending. In FY 2017, the Department of Defense budgeted spending accounted for 15% of the U.S. federal budget, and 49% of federal discretionary spending , which represents funds not accounted for by pre-existing obligations. However, this does not include many military-related items that are outside the Department of Defense budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance, cleanup, and production, which

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4588-438: The majority of the National Defense Budget of approximately $ 716.0 billion in discretionary spending and $ 10.8 billion in mandatory spending for a $ 726.8 billion total. Of the total, $ 708.1 billion falls under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Armed Services and Senate Armed Services Committee and is subject to authorization by the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The remaining $ 7.9 billion falls under

4662-500: The new government. President George Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military twice during this time. Finally, on the last day of the session, September 29, 1789, Congress created the War Department . The War Department handled naval affairs until Congress created the Navy Department in 1798. The secretaries of each department reported directly to the president as cabinet-level advisors until 1949, when all military departments became subordinate to

4736-579: The next five years without layoffs or reduction in military personnel. In 2016, The Washington Post uncovered that rather than taking the advice of the auditing firm, senior defense officials suppressed and hid the report from the public to avoid political scrutiny. In June 2016, the Office of the Inspector General released a report stating that the Army made $ 6.5 trillion in wrongful adjustments to its accounting entries in 2015. The Department of Defense failed its fifth audit in 2022, and could not account for more than 60% of its $ 3.5 trillion in assets. In

4810-411: The order of the letters or use new acronym based letters (e.g. SR) rather than existing ones. Non-systematic designations are both official and correct, since the DOD has final authority to approve such designations. The design number " 13 " has been skipped in many mission and vehicle series for its association with superstition . Some numbers were skipped when a number was requested and/or assigned to

4884-580: The president, with the advice and consent of the Senate . They have the legal authority under Title 10 of the United States Code to conduct all the affairs of their respective departments within which the military services are organized. The secretaries of the Military Departments are (by law) subordinate to the secretary of defense and (by SecDef delegation) to the deputy secretary of defense . Secretaries of military departments, in turn, normally exercise authority over their forces by delegation through their respective service chiefs (i.e., Chief of Staff of

4958-463: The remaining resources relating to multi-year modernization projects requiring additional time to procure. After over a decade of non-compliance , Congress has established a deadline of Fiscal year 2017 for the Department of Defense to achieve audit readiness . In 2015 the allocation for the Department of Defense was $ 585  billion, the highest level of budgetary resources among all federal agencies, and this amounts to more than one-half of

5032-399: The secretary of defense and the secretary's subordinate officials generally exercise military authority. The Department of Defense is composed of the Office of the Secretary of Defense ( OSD ), the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS ) and the Joint Staff ( JS ), Office of the Inspector General ( DODIG ), the Combatant Commands , the Military Departments ( Department of the Army (DA), Department of

5106-401: The secretary of defense concerning these subordinate Military Departments. It more clearly defined the operational chain of command over U.S. military forces (created by the military departments) as running from the President to the Secretary of Defense, the service chief of the Unified Combatant Commander(s), and then to the unified combatant commander(s). Also provided in this legislation was

5180-411: The two systems have been concurrently presented and maintained in joint publications since. The most recent changes were mandated by Joint Regulation 4120.15E Designating and Naming Military Aerospace Vehicles and were implemented via Air Force Instruction (AFI) 16-401, Army Regulation (AR) 70-50, Naval Air Systems Command Instruction (NAVAIRINST) 13100.16 on 3 November 2020. The list of military aircraft

5254-480: Was in turn based on the type, model, series USAAS/USAAC/USAAF system used from 1924 to 1948. The 1962 system has been modified and updated since introduction. The Tri-Service system was first enacted on 6 July 1962 by the DoD Directive 4505.6 "Designating, Redesignating, and Naming Military Aircraft" and was implemented via Air Force Regulation (AFR) 66-11, Army Regulation (AR) 700-26, Bureau of Weapons Instruction (BUWEPSINST) 13100.7 on 18 September 1962. Anecdotally,

5328-515: Was maintained via 4120.15-L Model Designation of Military Aerospace Vehicles until its transition to data.af.mil on 31 August 2018. The system uses a Mission-Design-Series (MDS) designation of the form: 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. The U.S. Air Force characterizes this designation system as "MDS", while

5402-544: Was meant to designate aircraft "on the drawing board". For example, using this system an airframe such as the F-13 could have initially been designated as ZF-13 during the design phase, possibly XF-13 if experimental testing was required before building a prototype, the YF-13; the final production model would simply be designated F-13 (with the first production variant being the F-13A). Continuing

5476-464: Was no "H" version of the F-4 Phantom II because the aircraft type was previously designated F4H. Since the 1962 system was introduced there have been several instances of non-systematic aircraft designations and skipping of design numbers. The most common changes are to use a number from another series, or some other choice, rather than the next available number (117, 767, 71). Another is to change

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