US Tri-Service Designation System

MDS (Mission - Design - Series)

D = UAV Control Segment (Standard Designations)

• General Atomics MD-1: Integrated ground control equipment for General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.

• Northrop Grumman RD-2: Integrated ground control equipment for Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.

• Northrop Grumman MD-3: Integrated ground control equipment for Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton.

• Northrop Grumman MD-4: Integrated ground control equipment for Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout.

• MD-5: Integrated ground control equipment for Boeing MQ-25 Stingray.

• D-6: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Wikipedia

G = Glider (Standard Designations)

• Caproni Vizzola TG-12: A-12 Calif training glider used by the USAF.

• G-13: Designation skipped for superstitious reasons. Source: Designation-Systems.net

• Grupo Aeromot TG-14: AMT-200S Super Ximango motor glider used by the USAF.

• Schemp-Hirth TG-15A: Duo Discus training glider used by the USAF.

• Schemp-Hirth TG-15B: Discus-2b training glider used by the USAF. These are different aircraft, so it should have probably been assigned a different numerical designation.

• DG Flugzeugbau TG-16: DG-1000 training glider used by the USAF.

• G-17: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net

H = Helicopter (Standard Designations)

• Agusta MH-68 Sting Ray Eight A109E power used by the US Coast Guard.

• H-69: Designation skipped because of the sexual connotation. Source: Designation-Systems.net

• Bell ARH-70 Arapaho: Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter prototypes for the US Army. Note that this designation was originally skipped when the H-71 designation was assigned.

• Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel: Cancelled US Presidential transport based on EH 101.

• EADS North America UH-72 Lakota: Light Utility Helicopter version of the EC 145 for the US Army; a few also acquired by the US Navy for training.

• Leonardo Helicopters TH-73 Thrasher: Training version of AW 119 Koala for the US Navy.

• H-74: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net. Potential aircraft programs include the US Army Future Vertical Lift program and the US Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program.

Helicopter (Non-standard, Out-of-Sequence Designations)

• McDonnell Douglas MH-90 Enforcer: Four MD 900 helicopters evaluated by the US Coast Guard. Designation appears to be based on MD 900 model number.

• Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot: Presidential transport helicopters for the US Navy & USMC, based on S-92. Designation based on manufacturer's model number.

• Boeing / Leonardo Helicopters MH-139 Grey Wolf: Version of AW 139 for the USAF. Designation based on manufacturer's model number, and duplicates the Italian military designation for this type (HH-139, VH-139, etc.).

Q = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Standard Designations)

• AeroVironment RQ-22: Global Observer long-endurance UAV used by the USA.

• Navmar RQ-23: TigerShark UAV used by the US Navy.

• Kaman CQ-24: Unmanned version of K-MAX evaluated by the USMC.

• Boeing MQ-25 Stingray: UCAV, IFR tanker for the US Navy Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System.

• AeroNautics Defense Systems RQ-26: Aerostar UAV used by the US Navy.

• Insitu MQ-27: ScanEagle UAV used by the USAF, US Navy, and USMC for many years before being assigned this designation.

• Q-28: It is unclear if this designation was skipped (possibly when the XQ-58 designation was assigned) or if it is somehow associated with the Australian MQ-28 Ghost Bat, which could potentially be acquired by the USAF.

• Q-29: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net

Q = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Non-standard, Out-of-Sequence Designations)

• General Atomics YQ-11: Apparent designation of at least one General Atomics Predator C used by the USAF.

• Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie: Stealthy UCAV in development for the USAF Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program. The "58" designation appears to have been taken from the "X" Research series. It is possible that the Q-28 designation was skipped when this designation was assigned.

• Northrop Grumman RQ-72 Great Horned Owl: Secret ISR UAV for the USAF and perhaps others.

• Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel: Stealth reconnaissance UAV used by the USAF.

• Northrop Grumman RQ-180: Stealth surveillance UAV used by the USAF.

S = Spaceplane (Standard Designations)

• MS-1A: This proposed USAF spaceplane is the only designation in this series. This vehicle type series also conflicts with the S for Anti-Submarine Warfare Basic Mission series.

• S-2: Potentially the next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net

V = VTOL/STOL (Standard Designations)

• Bell - Boeing V-22 Osprey: Tilt-rotor transport used by the USMC, USAF, and US Navy.

• Dominion UV-23 Scout: A single Skytrader STOL utility aircraft evaluated by the US Army as part of the GRISLEY HUNTER program.

• Aurora Flight Sciences XV-24: Experimental VTOL UAV demonstrator for DARPA.

• V-25: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net. Potential aircraft programs include the US Army Future Vertical Lift program and the Bell V-280 Valor, selected for the US Army Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program.

Z = Lighter-Than-Air Vehicle (Standard Designations)

• American Blimp Corp. MZ-3: One A-170 blimp evaluated by the US Navy.

• Northrop Grumman / HAV RZ-4: One HAV 304 blimp evaluated by the US Army for the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle program.

• Z-5: Next available numerical designation, in standard numerical sequence. Source: Designation-Systems.net