How Are Planes Named?

When discussing World War II and the technology that emerged during this time, one word that I hear a lot is B-12 bomber. Based on context, you can tell that it's a plane, used in the military to drop bombs. However, what I was curious about was how are the numbers assigned? After thinking about it, I could think of a few modern planes that are numbered as well, like the Boeing-747 that we fly on commercial flights, or the Boeing-777. These numbers are all 7xx, while the planes we hear about in class were typically named with only 2 numbers following a letter, like the P-26.

Upon further research, I found that following World War 2, Boeing, a previously solely military plane company, expanded back into the commercial sector and started dividing their numbering system into blocks of 100. Before this, they had just sequentially named their planes, so all planes were (a letter)-x. With this new system, 300s and 400s continued to represent aircraft, 500s were used on turbine engines, 600s for rockets and missiles, and 700s were set aside for aircraft used for transport.

While this explains the difference between the new and old numbering systems, I was still curious about the letters that came before the sequential number, for example, B or P. The answer ended up being fairly straightforward, in that the letters simply explained the use of the plane. B's were bombers, C was cargo, and more can be seen in this key from the first iterations of this system.

Letters used after the number indicated that there was something special about the plane like an E would indicate that it was electronic. Since World War II, this system has updated, but for the most part, this system has stayed in place within the United States military. 

One modern example I found was the UGM-133A Trident II. In the new system, the first letter is the launch environment, the second letter is the purpose or mission of the system, the third letter is what type of system it is, the first number is the design number, the next letter is the series letter, and if there was another number after the final letter, that would indicate that is similar to another plane with just minor variations. Based on a database online, you can use these numbers to find that the UGM-133A Trident II is an underwater-launched surface-attack missile. 

The key to a useful naming system is that the purpose of a piece of technology is clear by the name. While cool names like the "Trident II" were added at the end, these codes make it easy for a military to function smoothly and without miscommunication. 

https://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2004/february/i_history.html
https://primeindustriesusa.com/famous-wwii-aircraft/
https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/history-ww2-25-airplanes-180954056/
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/mds.htm
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a20049/us-military-missile-rocket-designations-explained/
http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missiles.html