NATO uses a system of code names , called reporting names , to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states , former Warsaw Pact countries, China , and other countries. The system assists military communications by providing short, one or two-syllable names, as alternatives to the precise proper names , which may be easily confused under operational conditions or are unknown in the Western world .
25-771: The Antonov An-30 ( NATO reporting name : Clank ), is a development of the An-24 designed for aerial cartography . The first aerial survey version of the Antonov An-24 was designed by the Beriev OKB and designated An-24FK . The FK stood for fotokartograficheskiy (photo mapping). The prototype was converted from a production An-24A at Beriev's No. 49 construction shop during 1966. The An-24FK made its first flight on 21 August 1967, with state acceptance trials being completed in 1970 and civil certification completed in 1974. Redesignated An-30 , production began in 1971 at
50-701: A Ukrainian An-30 was hit by pro-Russian separatists' small-arms fire while on a surveillance mission over the town of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine. The plane landed safely with minor damage. On 6 June 2014, a Ukrainian An-30B was shot down near the city of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine, reportedly by a MANPADS fired by local separatists. Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988–89 General characteristics Performance Avionics Five positions for large cameras. Other survey equipment can be fitted. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists NATO reporting name The assignment of reporting names
75-672: A bomber aircraft refers to the Tupolev Tu-95 , or "Fulcrum" for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighter aircraft. For fixed-wing aircraft, one-syllable names are used for propeller aircraft and two-syllable names for aircraft with jet engines. This distinction is not made for helicopters. Before the 1980s, reporting names for submarines were taken from the NATO spelling alphabet . Modifications of existing designs were given descriptive terms, such as " Whiskey Long Bin ". From
100-734: A takeoff rating of 2,820 ehp. In addition to its principal use as a survey aircraft, it has also been used by Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia and Ukraine to carry out surveillance under the Open Skies Treaty . The An-30 has also been used as a weather control aircraft as the An-30M . Some have been fitted with frozen tanks of carbon dioxide to be ejected into the sky to form artificial rain clouds . These An-30s have also been put to use to avoid crop-damaging hailstorms and also to maintain good weather for, as examples, new airplane maiden flights, important parades like 1 May and
125-517: Is a formal military organisation, consisting of the " Five Eyes " countries, Australia , Canada , New Zealand , the United Kingdom and United States . The organisation is responsible for enhancing Air Force interoperability amongst member nations' Air Forces. The use of the term " Five Eyes " stems from the informal name for the intelligence sharing network consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States. It
150-746: Is managed by the Five Eyes Air Force Interoperability Council (AFIC), previously known as the Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC), which is separate from NATO . Based in Washington DC, AFIC comprises representatives from the militaries of three NATO members (Canada, the United Kingdom and United States) and two non-NATO countries (Australia and New Zealand). When the system was introduced in
175-654: The Antonov factory. 123 production An-30s were manufactured between 1971 and 1980 in Kiev in two main versions. The Antonov An-30 is a derivative of the An-24, fitted with an entirely new fuselage forward of frame 11. The fuselage nose is extensively glazed. Housed within the new nose section are the navigator and precise navigational equipment, including an optical sight for ensuring accuracy of aerial photography. To enable accurate and repeatable survey flights, standard equipment for
200-780: The " Five Eyes Air Force Interoperability Council " (AFIC). The "Five Eyes" AFIC identifies and resolves current and future air force interoperability challenges by leveraging collective expertise. In a nutshell, AFIC enhances "Five Eyes" air power by delivering improved air force interoperability. AFIC does this by facilitating working groups to address identified interoperability friction in "Five Eyes" air operations. These working groups seek to generate mutually agreed " Air Standards " (AIRSTDS) which can be applied to "Five Eyes" Air Forces' operations and incorporated into National air publications and doctrine. Additionally, AFIC shares information on "Five Eyes" tactics, training and procedures (TTPs) through " Information Publications "; facilitates
225-484: The 1950s, reporting names also implicitly designated potentially hostile aircraft. However, since the end of the Cold War, some NATO air forces have operated various aircraft types with reporting names (e.g. the "Fulcrum" Mikoyan MiG-29 ). The United States Department of Defense (DOD) expands on the NATO reporting names in some cases. NATO refers to surface-to-air missile systems mounted on ships or submarines with
250-644: The 1980s, new designs were given names derived from Russian words, such as " Akula ", or "shark". These names did not correspond to the Soviet names. Coincidentally, "Akula", which was assigned to an attack submarine by NATO, was the actual Soviet name for the ballistic missile submarine NATO named " Typhoon-class ". The NATO names for submarines of the People's Republic of China are taken from Chinese dynasties . Five Eyes Air Force Interoperability Council The Five Eyes Air Force Interoperability Council (AFIC)
275-695: The 850th anniversary of Moscow in September 1997. Between 1971 and 1980 a total of 115 aircraft were built and 23 were sold abroad to Afghanistan, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia and Vietnam. An-30s completely mapped Afghanistan in 1982, with one shot down by a MANPADS during an aerial photography flight in the Kabul area south of the Panjshir Valley on 11 March 1985. Cuban An-30s saw active service in Angola in 1987. On 22 April 2014,
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#1732791255278300-455: The An-30 included computer flight path control technology. This additional equipment replaced the radar on the An-24. The positioning of the new navigational equipment required the flightdeck to be raised by 41 cm in comparison to the An-24, giving the aircraft its other main feature, a hump containing the cockpit. The radio operator and flight engineer sat in the first cabin aft of and below
325-513: The NATO names, preferring a native Russian nickname. An exception was that Soviet airmen appreciated the MiG-29 's codename "Fulcrum", as an indication of its pivotal role in Soviet air defence. To reduce the risk of confusion, unusual or made-up names are allocated, the idea being that the names chosen are unlikely to occur in normal conversation and are easier to memorise. For fixed-wing aircraft,
350-512: The WG, in addition to various " Subject Matter Experts " (SMEs) who help to tackle the specific interoperability issues that have been identified. Finally, each nation has a " National Program Manager " (NPM) who is responsible to their respective ND for their own national AFIC program, and coordinating their HoD and SME support to the Working Groups. They also provide administrative support to
375-598: The aircraft's close air support role. Transports have names starting with "C" (for "cargo"), resulting in names like "Condor" for the Antonov An-124 or "Candid" for the Ilyushin Il-76 . The initial letter of the name indicates the use of that equipment. The alphanumeric designations (eg AA-2) are assigned by the Department of Defense . The first letter indicates the type of aircraft, e.g., "Bear" for
400-432: The aircraft, for oblique photography. The same fuselage compartment contained workstations for two camera operators and a crew rest area. The aircraft's cameras could be used between 2,000 and 7,000 m (6,500 and 23,000 ft) and the scale of the resultant photographs was between 1:200,000 and 1:15,000,000. The aircraft was supplied with four or five cameras. The An-30 was powered by two Ivchenko AI-24 VT turboprops with
425-738: The capability for aircraft to be cross-serviced. In 1951, ASCC was expanded to include the US Navy , the Royal Australian Air Force joined in 1964 and the Royal New Zealand Air Force followed in 1965. Perhaps the most prominent role of ASCC/AFIC has been the creation and maintenance of the reporting names for aircraft from the Soviet Union / Russia , other Warsaw Pact countries and the People's Republic of China . These reporting names are used by
450-502: The flightdeck. The mission equipment was located further aft, in a cabin featuring five camera windows in the floor. Each camera window could be closed with covers to protect the glass panels. The covers were located in special fairings protruding from the fuselage underside. In the normal aerial photography role, four or five cameras were carried aboard. Three cameras were mounted vertically, intended for mapping purposes. The remaining two cameras were pointed at an angle of 28° on each side of
475-419: The loaning of equipment and materiel between nations for test and evaluation purposes; and, provides a management architecture to orchestrate stakeholder participation and deliver organisational outcomes. The AFIC management structure consists of a four-tiered system. " National Directors " (ND) are appointed at the 1 or 2-star officer level from each member nation. These NDs provide the strategic direction to
500-712: The militaries of NATO and other members of the broader western alliance . An external review of ASCC was undertaken in 2004 to examine the organisational processes and structures. As a result of this review, in 2005, ASCC was restructured, downsized and renamed the "Air and Space Interoperability Council" (ASIC). In 2016 the Air Chiefs of the "Five Eyes" nations recommended that in order to increase ASIC’s operational relevance, it should refresh its principles, refocus its activities, and consider updating its name. Following this review, in 2017, ASIC realigned itself to concentrate on Air Force interoperability and changed its name to
525-489: The number of syllables indicates the type of the aircraft's engine. Single-syllable code names denote reciprocating engine or turboprop , while two-syllable code names denote jet engine . Bombers have names starting with the letter "B", and names like "Badger" ( Tupolev Tu-16 ), "Blackjack" ( Tupolev Tu-160 ) and "Bear" ( Tupolev Tu-95 ) have been used. "Frogfoot", the reporting name for the Sukhoi Su-25 , references
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#1732791255278550-533: The organisation and authorise the annual tasking and lines of operation for the Council. Additionally, these NDs will serve for 1-year as Chairperson, which rotates annually amongst the member nations. A Pentagon -based " Management Committee " (MC) oversees the day-to-day operation and performs the AFIC's management functions by implementing the mutually agreed strategic direction, chairing working groups and acting as
575-499: The primary conduit between the Council's operational tiers. The MC is typically established at the O-5 (OF4) level by representatives from each member nation, usually on a 3-year assignment. " Working Groups " (WGs) are established across warfighting and supporting functional areas to provide an operator-level approach to improve "Five Eyes" interoperability. Nations appoint a " Head of Delegation " (HoD) who represents their interests within
600-520: The same names as the corresponding land-based systems, but the US DOD assigns a different series of numbers with a different suffix (i.e., SA-N- versus SA-) for these systems. The names are kept the same as a convenience. Where there is no corresponding system, a new name is devised. The Soviet Union did not always assign official "popular names" to its aircraft, but unofficial nicknames were common as in any air force . Generally, Soviet pilots did not use
625-845: Was previously known as the Air and Space Interoperability Council (ASIC) and the Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC). In 1948, following the end of World War II , the Air Standards Coordination Committee (ASCC) was formed by the Air Force Chiefs of Staff of Canada , the United Kingdom and the United States to further those nations' capabilities to conduct combined air operations and to provide each other with certain essential services, namely
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