NATO Reporting Names for the latest chinese aircraft.

Violet Oboe

Junior Member
Recently I received some unconfirmed information that the NATO Reporting Name (identical with the respective DoD designation) for the JH-7/A is ´Flounder´.

The KJ-2000 AWACS is designated ´Mainring´ and several variants of the Harbin Z-9 helicopter are called ´Haitun´and even the small transport Harbin Y-11 has received the NATO code ´Chan´.

The classified code names are created by the ASIC (Air and Space Interoperability Council) with members only from the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand (hum, thats the same anglophone UKUSA gang which is operating ECHELON :confused:) and after the name finding process they forward the compulsive new list to all NATO members.

Apart from the fact that obviously the DoD and MoD equivalents of Beavis and Butthead are very hard at work in this ´committee´ (come on flounder and mainring! they must have been on meth or something even more heavy :roll: ) some serious questions remain about this peculiar names:

1. Do the japanese and south korean military forces use these designations? e.g. if a pilot of a JSDF F-15J actually spots a JH-7 or a KJ-2000 does he report a ´Flounder´ and a ´Mainring´back to base ?

2. Some european countries like France, Italy and Germany have harmonious and mutually beneficial relations with China and they are very keen that this is staying so for the time being. Adopting classified NATO code names officially would be offensive towards China since these names are intentionally hostile and pejorative and are deeply rooted in cold war thinking. Publicly France and Germany are absolutely ruling out that a military conflict with China is even only conceivable but obviously their officers are thinking otherwise or the matter is only some kind of bureaucratic inertia left over from cold war times. (Have you knowledge guys whether these code names for chinese aircraft are actually taught at the military academies in France, Germany, Italy ??)

3. What the hell is the NATO reporting name for the J-10 ? Hopefully nothing like ´Flouter´ or ´Funky´! :D
(seriously, there was some speculation about the NATO J-10 codename recently but that was certainly not the real thing, so what do you know guys ?!)
 
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crobato

Colonel
VIP Professional
I like NATO reporting names. Gives the planes an "air" that designations can't. Note how Sukhoi and MiG have no problems using "Flanker" and "Fulcrum" in their marketing efforts.

Flounder for JH-7 sucks however. Finback for the J-8s seem fitting, and Fantan for the Q-5 is definitely catchy. IMO Mainring for KJ-2000 is fitting, as Mainstay is used for A-50.

Some reporting names like Fishbed for the MiG-21 and Farmer for the MiG-19 is horrible. But Foxbat and Foxhound is quite cool. The best yet is the name "Bear" for the Tu-95. Seems that even Tu-95 crews are fond of this reporting name.
 
Fantan for the Q-5 is definitely catchy

The funny thing is that Fantan is actually a Chinese phrase meaning "defend against tanks." In China, the Q-5 is designated as a "fan tan ji," meaning anti-tank aircraft. It is the only such aircraft with that designation that I am aware off. I am not sure if NATO was aware of this when they designated the Q-5 as the Fantan.
 

ying1978

New Member
Hmm, I was always under the impression that the term "Fantan" refers to an old chinese gambling game. :confused:
 
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Kongo

Junior Member
What's wrong with naming them 'Flounder'? French and German politicians are not going to spend their time talking about Flounders or anything, so what's the big deal? And be happy with 'Flounder'. As I recall 'Farthole' and 'Farkup' hasn't been taken yet.
 

Dongfeng

Junior Member
VIP Professional
there are several versions as what Fantan actually means. one version is that it was an ancient Chinese gambling game, which I have never heard of. Either way, it was an error since Q-5 is not a fighter and its codename should not begin with F.

I doubt that Japan and SK would use NATO codenames since they can now clearly identify the name of the aircraft. Codenames are more of a 'Cold War' thing when there was still iron curtain. Nowadays it is pretty easy to find the name of any Chinese or Russian aircraft. Although Americans prefer to use the westernsied name of Chinese aircraft such as F-10 and F-8 instead of J-10 and J-8.
 

isthvan

Tailgunner
VIP Professional
While I may understand why some people wouldn’t like some of code names NATO gives to Russian/Chinese equipment( since some of them basically suck) I joust don’t understand why this should be problematic for Chinese/European relationship.

I mean why China should be concerned/offended if NATO countries use these code names as designations for Chinese military aircraft? I mean NATO still gives code names to new Russian military equipment and Russians doesn’t seam to be offended at all. Heck they even use these names in marketing purposes…

Ps. As for cold war mentality we could look at Chinese almost paranoiac behavior regarding even basic specifications of new military equipment. Lets be realistic this forum would be quite less interesting if Chinese would state joust fraction of information about new equipment compared to Western/Russian quite detailed specs…
 

challenge

Banned Idiot
While I may understand why some people wouldn’t like some of code names NATO gives to Russian/Chinese equipment( since some of them basically suck) I joust don’t understand why this should be problematic for Chinese/European relationship.

I mean why China should be concerned/offended if NATO countries use these code names as designations for Chinese military aircraft? I mean NATO still gives code names to new Russian military equipment and Russians doesn’t seam to be offended at all. Heck they even use these names in marketing purposes…

Ps. As for cold war mentality we could look at Chinese almost paranoiac behavior regarding even basic specifications of new military equipment. Lets be realistic this forum would be quite less interesting if Chinese would state joust fraction of information about new equipment compared to Western/Russian quite detailed specs…

according to soviet defector mig-25 pilot belenko,claim soviet air force found it amuse,even use the nato assign code name to identified there aircraft.
 

Gollevainen

Colonel
VIP Professional
Registered Member
Either way, it was an error since Q-5 is not a fighter and its codename should not begin with F.

Well NATO haven't separated actual fighters from fighter-bombers and attack aircrafts. For example soviet ground attack fighters like Su-7/17 were called "fitter" and even more dramatically the Su-24 interdiction aircraft was called "Fencer" and Su-25 close support aircraft was called "frogfoot". So no wonder why they haven't made an exception in chinese case...
 

oringo

Junior Member
there are several versions as what Fantan actually means. one version is that it was an ancient Chinese gambling game, which I have never heard of. Either way, it was an error since Q-5 is not a fighter and its codename should not begin with F.

Fantan is only one letter away from Fantuan (and sounds almost like it if you speak with an accent). It literarilly means rice ball, slang for "useless jerk." Gotta give the NATO some credit for humor.
 
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