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US Tri-Service Fighters |
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B256 U.S. Tri-Service Fighters
For many years, each of the U.S. military services
had its own aircraft designation system, which could
be confusing. For example, the Korean War era jet
fighter built by North American was called the F-86
Sabre/Sabrejet by the Air Force and the FJ Fury by
the Navy. That changed in 1963 when the United
States Department of Defense introduced the Tri-
Service aircraft designation system. This system
has since been used by all U.S. military aircraft,
with one exception (see below). The letter represents
the basic aircraft type. “F” represents fighters.
Other types include “B” for bombers and “C” for
cargo planes.
This poster shows all the U.S. fighters that have
actually flown under this system. It includes all
those flown by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines
since 1963. The one exception is the Lockheed
F-117 Nighthawk, as it used the old Air Force designation
system although development did not begin
until 1975. It made its first flight in 1981.
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