Before the NATO ASCC reporting names became widely used, the USAF and United States Department of Defense applied their own system of allocating code names on newly discovered Soviet aircraft. Each item was given a type number sequentially, but it soon became obvious that the system was impractical over a long period of time, being abandoned in 1955, in favour of the NATO ASCC reporting name system.
Some aircraft that were allocated USAF DoD type numbers were never allocated NATO reporting names. Inconsistencies in contemporary published lists have led to presumed re-allocations, predicated on research using contemporary Soviet documents by Helge Bergander.
The US DoD also assigned codes to newly discovered Soviet or Chinese aircraft and equipment, which had not yet been identified, consisting of code for the site it was first identified, and a sequential letter.
USAF/DoD preliminary aircraft identification Following are USAF/DoD Aircraft type numbers and NATO reporting names. Where there are two entries for a type, the source is noted as either "Bergander" or "published" (details in citation). Type NATO Common name1FargoMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-92FeatherYakovlev Yak-153 Lavochkin La-1504 Lavochkin La-1525 Lavochkin La-1566 Lavochkin La-160 Strelka7 Yakovlev Yak-198 Sukhoi Su-9 (1946)9 Tupolev Tu-1210 Ilyushin Il-2211 Mikoyan-Gurevich I-27012 Tupolev Tu-7313 Yakovlev Yak-25 (1947) (Bergander)13 (not allocated in contemporary published lists) (published)14FagotMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 15 Lavochkin La-16816FeatherYakovlev Yak-1717 Tupolev Tu-82 (Bergander)17 Sukhoi Su-11 (1947) (published)18 Sukhoi Su-15 (1949) (Bergander)18 Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320 (published)19FagotMikoyan-Gurevich SP-1 (MiG-15bisP) (Bergander)19KennelKS-1 Kometa (air-to-surface missile, DOD code AS-1) (published)20 Yakovlev Yak-30 (1948) (Bergander)20FrescoMikoyan-Guryevich MiG-17 (published)21FantailLavochkin La-1522ColtAntonov An-2 (Bergander) 22BatTupolev Tu-2R / (Tupolev Tu-6) (published)23Sukhoi Su-1224MareYakovlev Yak-14 (Bergander)24Yakovlev Yak-10 (published)25MistTsybin Ts-2526MagnetYakovlev Yak-17UTI27BeagleIlyushin Il-2828FloraYakovlev Yak-2329MidgetMikoyan-Guryevich MiG-15UTI30MascotIlyushin Il-28U31BargeTupolev Tu-8532HareMil Mi-133MoleBeriev Be-834MadgeBeriev Be-635BosunTupolev Tu-1436HoundMil Mi-437BisonMyasishchev M-438HorseYakovlev Yak-24 (published)38FrescoMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (Bergander)39BadgerTupolev Tu-1640BearTupolev Tu-95
DoD preliminary codes
+ Soviet sites Code Site CASP Caspian Sea KAZ Kazan NOVO GAZ-153 factory airfield (Novosibirsk) RAM Gromov Flight Research Institute, Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast SIB Chaplygin Siberian Scientific Research Institute Of Aviation (Novosibirsk) TAG Taganrog (Black Sea)
+ Chinese sites Code Site HARB Harbin NAN Nanchang XIAN Xi'an
+ Aircraft DoD code Common name NATO codenameCASP-AAlexeyev KMCASP-BAlexeyev A-90 OrlyonokKAZ-ATupolev Tu-22M0BackfireNOVO-ANOVO-BNOVO-CSukhoi T-60SRAM-ARAM-BRAM-CRAM-DRAM-ERAM-FRAM-GYakovlev Yak-38ForgerRAM-HTupolev Tu-144Charger RAM-JSukhoi T-8 (later Su-25)FrogfootRAM-KSukhoi T-10 (later Su-27)FlankerRAM-LMikoyan MiG-29FulcrumRAM-MMyasishchev M-17 StratosferaMysticRAM-NIlyushin Il-102RAM-PTupolev Tu-160BlackjackRAM-Q(possibly not assigned)RAM-RBuranRAM-SRAM-TYakovlev Yak-141FreestyleSIB-ASukhoi FSW testbed (Sukhoi S-37)TAG-ABeriev/Bartini VVA-14TAG-BTAG-CTAG-DBeriev A-40MermaidHARB-AHarbin SH-5NAN-A(small transport aircraft)NAN-B(small fighter prototype)XIAN-AShenyang J-8-IFinback
Notes
US DoD preliminary codes for research and prototype missiles This designation system is similar to the system used for prototype aircraft, but instead of sequential letters, numerical sequences are used.
+ Soviet and Russian test ranges Code Site BL Barnaul (Air Force) EM Embi-5 (Air Defence) KY Kapustin Yar NE Nenoska (Navy) PL Plesetsk SH Sary Shagan TT Tyuratam VA Vladimirovska
+ Chinese test ranges Code Site SC Shuang Cheng Tzu Missile and Space Test Facility
+ Missiles Code Common name NATO codenameBL-01BL-02BL-03BL-04BL-05BL-06BL-07BL-08BL-09BL-10M25A Meteorit-AAS-X-19 KoalaEM-01KY-01R-1/8K11SS-1A (unconfirmed)KY-02R-11/8K14SS-1B (unconfirmed)KY-02R-2/8Zh38SS-2 (unconfirmed)KY-02R-5 PobedaSS-3 (unconfirmed)KY-03R-17 ElbrusSS-1C/D Scud-B/CKY-04R-12/8K63SS-4 (unconfirmed)KY-05R-14/8K65SS-5 (unconfirmed)KY-069M76SS-12 (unconfirmed)KY-07RT-15/8K96SS-X-14 (unconfirmed)KY-08KY-09(erroneous identification of SS-NX-13)KY-10KY-119M76SS-22 (unconfirmed)KY-129M79 TochkaSS-21 ScarabNE-01NE-02NE-03NE-04R-39 RifSS-N-20 SturgeonPL-01RT-20SS-X-15 ScroogePL-02PL-03PL-04RT-23SS-24 ScalpelPL-05RT-2PM Topol (15Zh58)SS-25 SickleSH-01A-350ZhABM-1A GaloshSH-02SH-03SH-04A-350RABM-1B GaloshSH-05SH-06SH-07SH-0853T6ABM-3 GazelleSH-09SH-10SH-1151T6ABM-4 GorgonTT-01TT-02TT-03TT-04TT-05N-1SL-15TT-06TT-07TT-08TT-099K720 IskanderSS-X-26VA-01VA-02VA-03VA-04VA-05VA-06VA-07(SRAM-type missile, mid-1980s; probably Kh-15)VA-08(Air-launched antiship cruise missile, mid-1980s)
Notes
References