Revealing how NATO and Russia name weapons

The NATO practice of naming Russian military equipment dates back to the early Cold War. Are there any general rules or customs for naming?

Traditionally, any weapon in Russia, including tanks, guns or aircraft, is named alphabetically or with both letters and numbers.

However, in everyday life, Russian designers and the military often refer to weapons by their official names and unofficial nicknames. NATO representatives also use similar names.

According to Sputnik, it is worth noting that sometimes weapons are named systematically. The most obvious example is the naming of a series of self-propelled guns, mortars and howitzers, all of which are related to flowers.

They are "Vasilyok" (Chrysanthemum, a flower that grows in cornfields), "Gvozdika" (Carnation), "Akatsiya" (Acacia), "Pion" (Peony) and "Tyulpan" (Tulip).

Meanwhile, multiple rocket launchers, capable of destroying an entire settlement within a minute, are traditionally named after major natural phenomena such as: "Grad" (Hail), "Uragan" (Dipper), "Smerch" (Spiral) and "Tornado".

The naming of Russian air defense systems often refers to the names of rivers such as "Shilka," "Tunguska," "Dvina," "Neva," "Pechora" and "Angara".

Quite a few Russian military hardware are given code names related to their specific characteristics.

A notable example is the R-36M2 intercontinental ballistic missile, Russia's most powerful, codenamed "Voevoda" (Warlord). Or the Mi-28 "Night Hunter" attack helicopter designed to operate in the dark.

According to military expert Andrey Kots, NATO's naming of Russian planes and helicopters is based on quite simple principles.

Accordingly, the first characters in NATO designation usually correspond to the type of Russian helicopter or fighter aircraft. For example, the code name for fighter aircraft usually starts with the letter F, Su-24 is Flanker, MiG-31 is Foxhound, Su-34 is Fullback.

The same rule applies to naming Russian bombers, for example the Tu-95 is called "Bear", the Tu-22 is Blinder and the Tu-22M is Backfire.

Other types of aircraft such as reconnaissance aircraft, training aircraft, and long-range radar detection aircraft are often prefixed with the letter M.

Russian transport aircraft are often given their own NATO designations, with the first letter being C (cargo). These include the Il-76, which is known as Candid by NATO, the An-124 as Condor, and the An-12 as Cub.

According to Vietnamnet