Basic Ship and Aircraft Recognition

[Haasino]

I posted this in another thread as a response to the frequently-asked question, "what do I need to know about ships & aircraft at RTC?". Since it wasn't the original topic of the thread, I figured I'd put it in it's own so other Future Sailors can benefit...

For ships, try to remember this:

A Carrier (CVN) is easy to identify because it's huge, and has an angled landing strip which gives it a beer bottle shape when viewed from above...


The mission of a carrier is to launch and recover planes and helicopters... again, kind of self-explanatory.

An Amphibious Assault Ship (LHD/LHA), by comparison, is more rectangular because it only launches helos and Harrier VTOL aircraft...


The mission of an amphib is to launch Marine helos and VTOL aircraft, as well as carry troops and landing craft such as LCAC hovercrafts. The key to remembering this one is in the name - it allows Marines to perform amphibious assaults of enemy shorelines.

Cruisers (CG) are easily recognizable by their two distinct masts (One above the bridge, and one in the middle of the ship)...


The mission of a cruiser is to protect carrier battle groups and convoys... the hint here is that a cruiser "cruises" alongside carriers.

Destroyers (DDG), on the other hand, only have one large mast above the bridge...


The mission of a destroyer is to "destroy" enemy ships and aircraft.

Frigates (FFG), like cruisers, have two masts... but they have a shorter overall superstructure and a large square hangar on the back for ASW helos...


The distinguishing mission of the frigate is Anti-Submarine Warfare operations (ASW)... the hint here is to remember the frigate bird - it searches for and snatches fish out of the water.[/QUOTE]

For aircraft, it's not as much visual identification as it is designation identification. I wouldn't expect you to know the difference between an SH-60B, an SH-60F, an MH-60R, an MH-60S, a UH-60L, an HH-60G, or an HH-60J... but eliminating the first and last letter, you know they're all H-60 helicopters so they're gonna look something like this:



Helos are easy to identify because they're gonna start with two letters, and the second one is always gonna be an H... so if you see SH-60B, MH-53E, AH-1J, CH-47M, you may not have a clue what those look like or their nichname, but you should at least know they're all helicopters. The first letter is going to indicate it's mission:

A = Attack
C = Cargo
M = Multi-Role
S = Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
U = Utility

The last letter is the revision number... you shouldn't need to know that for DEP or RTC... maybe A School if your rating requires it.

Airplanes are basically the same, only they'll usually be one letter before the number... C-2A, P-3C, E-6B, C-130H, F-117A, etc. This letter is again ging to indicate mission:

A = Attack
B = Bomber
C = Cargo
E = Electronic Warfare
F = Fighter
P = Patrol & Reconnaissance
Q = UAV
S = ASW
T = Trainer

Occasionally, you'll see two letters for an aircraft... these indicate two roles. The best example of this is the F/A-18 Hornet, which is a Fighter/Attack aircraft... compared to the now-retired F-14 Tomcat, which was a Fighter only. Sometimes, you'll also see the same airframe taking on another role, such as with the P-3C Orion vs. EP-3E Aries II or the F/A-18 Hornet vs. the E/A-18 Growler... in both cases, the aircraft looks very similar, but the designator tells you that the latter in both cases is also responsible for Electronic Warfare missions. The only notable exception to this is the EA-6B Prowler vs. the E-6B Mercury...

The Prowler looks like this:



While the Mercury looks like this:



Why did they give the same airframe number to two dramatically different aircraft? I dunno...