Weapon system

Legend for Numeric Designations CL: Lockheed D: Douglas NA: North American WS (Weapon System)

Weapon System is a United States military term that designated, along with a weapon system number (e.g., WS-110), military experimental (MX) systems prior to official naming (e.g., under a military aircraft designation system. Preceded by the first Skunk Works program (MX-813 (Convair XF-92) in 1946),  the earliest "WS" designation was the 1954 WS-117L.   Circa 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."

US weapon programs often were initiated by 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).

The term also made its way into UK use and by 1959 was causing some confusion as to its origins and meaning.

Notes and references
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.

Vapensystem