PLA weaponry nomenclature

Originally Posted by hbogyt

I found this at
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I've attached my pathetic attempt at translation

...

Thanks a lot for Your work, especially since it fit's nicely into a few designations referred at Huitong's page I was wondering about since some time. Here also the fighters are designated following this system:

J-7E = K/JJ7E
J-8D = K/JJ8D

Thanks a lot, Deino

Originally Posted by Deino

Thanks a lot for Your work, especially since it fit's nicely into a few designations referred at Huitong's page I was wondering about since some time. Here also the fighters are designated following this system:

J-7E = K/JJ7E
J-8D = K/JJ8D

Thanks a lot, Deino

Oh, thanks for your appreciation. I was afraid that the first few replies were going to be like "Already posted." Etc. Glad I can help.



I found some more.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ee622620100gcr6.html


《全军武器装备命名规定》并没有详细规定各类装备命名的具体内容，只给出了一个框架，这个框架只规定了“型 号”的结构形式：
　　ZZZ/X/YYY-123
　　第一个字母组合“ZZZ”，是指武器装备分系统的名称，不是很常见。分别用拼音缩写字头代替，譬如发动 机是FDJ，导弹助推器是ZTQ，战斗部是ZDB，乘员舱是CYC，瞄准具是MZJ。
　　中间字母X是军兵种装备大类的专用字母（字头），只有一位，目前能确定以下几个：
　　L陆军
　　H海军
　　K空军
　　P第二炮兵
　　T国防科委航天
　　B装备保障设备
　　后面的字母组合“YYY”形式，代表武器装备类别性质，由各个军工标准自己规定，位数不限，字母的位数 也不限。一般说来“YYY”的第一个字母代表装备的大类别，如A代表导弹、Z代表装甲车辆、T代表通信、J 代表飞行器、Q代表枪械，D代表枪弹。由于专用字母（字头）的不同，会有撞车的现象，也就是相同的字母代表 不同的含义，例如P在陆军代表火炮，而在空军则代表外挂吊舱。
　　“YYY”的第二个字母，代表特征或功能分类。举例来说：
　　H/PJ12（730舰炮）中的J代表舰用
　　L/ZBD1997中的B代表步兵战车
　　B/FAC-1中的A代表安装
　　再后面的第三个字母代表武器装备特征。如上例中的L/ZBD1997中的D代表履带式，B/FAC-1中的C代表安装拖车。也有些是第二个字母和第三个字母连起来代表表特征或功能分类。如K/PZS-01吊舱中的ZS，就代表“指示”；K/AKD88导弹中的KD，代表“空地”；H/AJJ-02导弹中的JJ，就代表“舰舰”。仅就导弹来说，地地导弹型号是ADD，空地导弹编号是AKD，舰空导弹 编号是AKJ，反舰导弹编号是AJJ，反坦克导弹编号是AFT。。。。。。以此类推。
　　最后“123”的数字组合则代表武器装备的排列序号或年代，例如01或02或其他，使用两 位数字来表示

The official PLA document is classified. From what can be gathered from the public domain.

A system is usually named in the form of ZZZ/X/YYY-123 (maybe without the hyphen?)

The ZZZ part is for identifying a sub-system of a piece of equipment where applicable, e.g. FDJ = engine, ZTQ = booster, ZDB = warhead, CYC = crew compartment, MZJ = aiming device.

The lone x in the middle between the 2 forward slashes denotes the branch of the armed force this piece of equipment belongs to, though not entirely. Some examples are outlined in the first post. Additionaly, T = space? (though not a part of the armed force), B = maintenance.

The YYY part indentifies the equipment's characteristics. The first letter usually identifies the type of equipment. E.g. A = missile, Z = armor, T = communications, J = aircraft, Q = small arms, D = bullet. Different branches might use the same letter for different things. E.g. P = artillery in the army, but P = pod (as in guidance pod) in the air force.

The second letter in the YYY part usually stands for what it does. E.g. in L/ZBD1997, B = IFV (so now I know, Z = armored, B = IFV, D = tracked) and in B/FAC-1, A = installation.

Interesting to note, H/PJ12 is the type-730 CIWS. Also interesting to note, the YYY part and the numeric part can be however long or short you want.

The 3rd letter in the YYY part usually (note the wording, not always) identifies a distinct feature of the equipment. E.g in ZBD, D = tracked, in B/FAC-1, C = tractor

Some times, the 2nd and the 3rd letter are used in conjunction to indentify the purpose of the equipment. E.g in missiles as explained before and in K/PZS-01, P = pod, ZS = designation?/guidance? (tphuang help).

The numeric part is a bit more random.