How did the US Army get their vehicle/weapon names?

2006-03-15 14:11:35

#1

Ryan: Member; +1,230|7099|Alberta, Canada

I searched, and i noticed it searches much faster than before, but i still found nothing. So i was curious to know why they put like M's in front of their guns and tanks. Like M16, M249, M60, M1A1, M1A2.

how did they get the M and how did they choose the numbers?

2006-03-15 14:23:23

#2

polarbearz: Raiders of the Lost Bear; +-1,474|7045|Singapore

Military Designations fail me.

Not only M. AH. Etc. etc.

2006-03-15 16:17:42

#3

Ryan: Member; +1,230|7099|Alberta, Canada

Oh yeah, AH and UH i think....

2006-03-15 16:25:02

#4

THA: im a fucking .....well not now; +609|7027|AUS, Canberra

i think you would be better off searching google ryan.

2006-03-15 16:44:51

#5

polarbearz: Raiders of the Lost Bear; +-1,474|7045|Singapore

THA's uncompleted sentence

i think you would be better off searching google ryan instead of asking dumbfucks like bearz who'll just laugh at you

2006-03-15 16:48:57

#6

VspyVspy: Sniper; +183|6929|A sunburnt country

Not sure about the rifles but the AH -Attack Helicopter (AH-64D Apache) UH - Utility Helicopter (UH-1 Huey) F- Fighter (F-35) B - Bomber (B-2) F/A - Fighter/ Attack (F/A-18) and so on............

2006-03-15 16:49:54

#7

KtotheIMMY: Member; +513|7019

I honestly have no idea.

2006-03-15 16:56:21

#8

Marconius: One-eyed Wonder Mod; +368|6950|San Francisco

VspyVspy wrote:
Not sure about the rifles but the AH -Attack Helicopter (AH-64D Apache) UH - Utility Helicopter (UH-1 Huey) F- Fighter (F-35) B - Bomber (B-2) F/A - Fighter/ Attack (F/A-18) and so on............

The sheer simplicity of this makes NO SENSE whatsoever!

I keed, I keed...

2006-03-15 17:10:57

#9

polarbearz: Raiders of the Lost Bear; +-1,474|7045|Singapore

So they're all acronyms then?

2006-03-16 00:13:57

#10

[QXJZ]Capt_Kefra: Alright, you're good to go!; +124|6984|Honolulu, HI

Come to think of it...how the hell does the Army decide on their designation? All I know is that "X" in front of a gun name means it's a prototype and in development (e.g., XM8, XM29 OICW). As for the "M" series...beats me. For instance, you've got the M1 Garand (semi-automatic .30 rifle, clip fed), the M1 Carbine (automatic .30 ball cartridge rifle, magazine fed), the M1 Thompson (a .45 ACP submachine gun), and even the M1 Abrams (a freakin' tank, for God's sake), among others that I've either forgotten or never heard of. So this tells us: (a) Numbers aren't retired; and (b) they're not even specific to small arms, apparently...Great, that confuses this even more doesn't it?

2006-03-16 00:31:39

#11

Tetrino: International OMGWTFBBQ; +200|6987|Uhh... erm...

Vehicles are normally named after famous military or political personalities. The M1A2 Abrams is named after some US General. And you can just look at most Aircraft Carriers. I think they're running out of names, though.

2006-03-16 00:42:36

#12

THA: im a fucking .....well not now; +609|7027|AUS, Canberra

Tetrino wrote:
Vehicles are normally named after famous military or political personalities. The M1A2 Abrams is named after some US General. And you can just look at most Aircraft Carriers. I think they're running out of names, though.

yeh we all remember general m1a1!

2006-03-16 00:45:57

#13

Tetrino: International OMGWTFBBQ; +200|6987|Uhh... erm...

I meant the Abrams part. What kind of mother names their child M1A1?!

2006-03-16 10:17:02

#14

ifixphns2: Member; +3|6971|Evanston, WY

HMMWV (HUMMER, HUMVEE) = Highly Mobile Multi Wheeled Vehicle

the Abrams MBT is named for General Creighton Williams Abrams, Jr. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/abrams.htm

the Bradley APC is named for Omar Nelson Bradley http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/omarnels.htm

As for the rotary wing aircraft, the US name theirs after tribes. kinda ironic how the Air Cav is piloting choppers named for tribes wiped out by their ground based origins.

Last edited by ifixphns2 (2006-03-16 10:17:23)

2006-03-16 16:25:11

#15

Ryan: Member; +1,230|7099|Alberta, Canada

i searched google and it didnt work lol

2006-03-16 21:06:29

#16

oberst_enzian: Member; +234|6999|melb.au

there's a short article about the history of rifle designations here

2006-03-16 21:11:49

#17

dubbs: Member; +105|6888|Lexington, KY

I could think of two different reasons. One is that they are miltary issue, or two it was first used for machine gun, and the M just stuck for every gun after it. I know that the name style during the Civil War was what ever the gun maker called the gun. For exameple you would lhave the Remington XXXX According to some of the sites I read, it may also have to do with who made the gun.

Here is a site that states how the US Navy names their planes.

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/hi … 0012.shtml

2006-03-16 22:38:47

#18

THA: im a fucking .....well not now; +609|7027|AUS, Canberra

ryan_14 wrote:
i searched google and it didnt work lol

only you could fail at searching google ryan!!!

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&a … mp;spell=1

and that was the first thing i searched, imagine if you spent a few minutes!

2006-03-18 10:28:07

#19

Ryan: Member; +1,230|7099|Alberta, Canada

i didnt feel like searching either, google comes up with too many junky sites.

2006-03-18 11:17:52

#20

Prodie: Moderator Emeritus; +270|7031|Nova Scotia, Canada

ryan_14 wrote:
i didnt feel like searching either

And thats why you get flamed for not searching!

2006-03-18 11:34:31

#21

Horseman 77: Banned; +160|7093

a couple more

( SBD ) scout bomber dive bet you didn't know that one.

X means experimental

In GB ( Mk ) means an improvement over the original.

Rifles M is Model M 1 2 3 ETC..

2006-03-18 13:01:36

#22

War Man: Australians are hermaphrodites.; +564|6970|Purplicious Wisconsin

The m in guns stands for maverick, not sure about vehicles.

Edit: made vehicle Plural

Last edited by War Man (2006-03-18 13:01:54)

The irony of guns, is that they can save lives.

2006-03-18 13:31:53

#23

wiking18: Member; +0|7020|Norway

The Mx designation is recycled. For example, in WW2 the M9 was the so called trench knife, while today that is the designation of the Beretta FS92 Pistol.

That's why the Garand, which is now retired, shares the designation with the Abrams.

And Britan has dropped the Mk.x designation, and opted for the more common XXA(alteration)X

For example the current issue rifle being named the L85A2. And the former being called the L1A1 SLR, or just SLR (Self Loading Rifle) Though if they do use it for other weapon systems i dont know.

But as i've been told you don't call the L85 for L85, you call it rifle or rifle, 556. Call it a gun, Assult weapon, machine gun or any other weapon-analphabet name and you'll have sargeants boot up your arse

Last edited by wiking18 (2006-03-18 13:32:59)

2006-03-18 14:47:17

#24

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,053|7028|PNW

oberst_enzian wrote:
there's a short article about the history of rifle designations here

Article wrote "what’s next? Who knows? …"The U. S. Laser, Frequency XXMHz (or GHz), M1"? Stay tuned..."

I have to disagree. I think it more likely that they would use watts (power req) or joules (energy output).

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2006-03-18 14:49:23)

2006-03-18 14:59:10

#25

polarbearz: Raiders of the Lost Bear; +-1,474|7045|Singapore

*yawn*

BF2S Forums How did the US Army get their vehicle/weapon names?

VspyVspy wrote:

Tetrino wrote:

ryan_14 wrote:

ryan_14 wrote:

oberst_enzian wrote:

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