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{{About |naming of US military programs|the general topic of weapons systems and for other US designations|Weapon|United States military aircraft designation systems|Joint Electronics Type Designation System}}
{{About |naming of US military programs|the general topic of weapons systems and for other US designations|Weapon|United States military aircraft designation systems|Joint Electronics Type Designation System}}



Revision as of 00:07, 18 May 2021

Weapon System was a United States Armed Forces military designation scheme for experimental weapons[1] (e.g., WS-220) before they received an official name — e.g., under a military aircraft designation system. The new designator reflected the increasing complexity of weapons that required separate development of auxiliary systems or components.

In November 1949, the Air Force decided to build the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger around a fire-control system.[2] This was "the real beginning of the weapon system approach [and the] aircraft would be integrated into the weapon system "as a whole from the beginning, so the characteristics of each component were compatible with the others".[3]

Around February 1950, an Air Research and Development Command "study prepared by Maj Gen Gordon P. Saville...recommended that a 'systems approach' to new weapons be adopted [whereby] development of a weapon "system" required development of support equipment as well as the actual hardware itself."[4]: 166 

The first WS designation was WS-100A.[5]

US weapon programs were often begun as numbered government specifications such as an Advanced Development Objective (e.g., ADO-40) or a General Operational Requirement (e.g., GOR.80), although some programs were initially identified by contractor numbers (e.g., CL-282).1

List of weapon system programs for US military systems
Number Link to Wikipage
WS-104A SM-64 Navaho
WS-107A SM-65 Atlas
WS-110 XB-70 Valkyrie
WS-117L (GOR.80)[6]: 80–87  Advanced Reconnaissance System (originally Project 1115);[7]: 30  recoverable capsule - Pied Piper/Sentry/SAMOS; television transmission - unfeasible;: 87  Subsystem G: MiDAS
WS-119B (USAF 7795)[6]: 139  Bold Orion ASAT
WS-119L Project Moby Dick (originally Project Genetrix)[7]: 31–32 
WS-120A BGM-75 AICBM
WS-124A Project Flying Cloud[8]
WS-125 (B-72)
WS-133A (Program 494L) LGM-30 Minuteman
WS-199 Anti-satellite weapon
WS-199B Bold Orion
WS-199C High Virgo
WS-199D Alpha Draco
WS-201A 1954 interceptor
WS-224A Phase I: BMEWS, Phase II: Wizard missile system[9]
WS-306A Republic F-105 Thunderchief (misidentified as WS-3061)
WS315A PGM-17 Thor missile[10]
WS-324A General Dynamics F-111

References

^1 When a government program number is not available, a contractor number (if available) is used in the table, e.g., Lockheed CL-282 for the U-2.

  1. ^ http://www.acronymfinder.com/Military-and-Government/MX.html
  2. ^ Donald 2003, pp. 68–69
  3. ^ Grant Historical Study No. 126 p. 53
  4. ^ Daso, Dik (Major, USAF) (September 1997). Architects of American Air Supremacy: General Hap Arnold and Dr Theodore von Kármán. Air University Press. pp. 76, 166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Parsch, Andreas. "Designations Of U.S. Air Force Projects". Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  6. ^ a b Burroughs, William E. (1988) [1986]. Deep Black (paperback ed.). New York: Berkley Publishing Group. ISBN 0-425-10879-1.
  7. ^ a b Stares, Paul B. "The Militarization of Space". Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  8. ^ Parsch, Andreas (21 March 2006). "WS-124A Flying Cloud". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4: Undesignated Vehicles. Designation-Systems. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  9. ^ Cite NORAD Historical Summary 1958 January–June, p. 106
  10. ^ "Correspondence: Weapon System" (Flighglobal/Archive). Flight. 6 February 1959. Retrieved 2011-09-13.