1962 United States Tri-Service missile and drone designation system

From 1962 the U.S. Department of Defense established a unified missile and rocket designation sequence, which is used in all weapons of the kind produced in the USA.

Explanation
The basic designation of every guided missile is based in a set of letters, which are in sequence. The sequence indicates the following:
 * The environment from which the weapon is launched
 * The primary mission of the weapon
 * The type of weapon

Examples of guided missile designators are as follows:
 * AGM - (A) Air-launched (G) Surface-attack   (M) Guided missile
 * AIM - (A) Air-launched (I) Intercept-aerial (M) Guided missile
 * ATM - (A) Air-launched (T) Training         (M) Guided missile
 * RIM - (R) Ship-launched (I) Intercept-aerial (M) Guided missile

The design or project number follows the basic designator. In turn, the number may be followed by consecutive letters, representing modifications.


 * Example:
 * RGM-84D means:
 * R - The weapon is ship-launched;
 * G - The weapon is designed to surface-attack;
 * M - The weapon is a guided missile;
 * 84 - eighty-fourth missile design;
 * D - fourth modification;

In addition, most guided missiles have names, such as Harpoon, Tomahawk, Seasparrow, etc. These names are retained regardless of subsequent modifications to the missile.

Prefixes
An X preceding the first letter indicates an experimental weapon, a Y preceding the first letter means the weapon is a prototype.