Talk:NATO reporting name

message: What about NATO reporting names for ships?  I have heard, for example, that there was a class of Soviet ships called Koni by NATO, but I can't find them—or any other ships, for that matter—in this article.  Could anyone clear this matter up for me, please?  Maikel 15:15, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Ships?

message: 'Were names used by'.. Aren't these still used for Chinese equipment? Not to mention that they're still being used to refer to Russian equipment. I'll replace it with present tense. Joffeloff 15:08, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Past tense 

message: I was taught that there was an additional “code” built into the code names, in that one syllable names indicated a prop driven aircraft; i.e. Bear, or Colt, and two or more syllable names indicated jet powered aircraft; Blackjack, Condor.   It seems to work, but I can't find a reference.   Speedbump 18:57, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Syllable Code?

message: I'm putting this here, rather than on each of the sublists, for simplicity's sake.  The sublists contain pointless links for the nicknames.  Most of these links provide no useful information about the actual item in question (the article on Kangaroo, for example, contains nothing at all about the AS-3 Kangaroo, and the latter already had a link in the list).  Also, a great many of the links point to disambiguation pages, and, since they have nothing to do with what they point to, there's no way to meaningfully disambiguate.  I've cleaned up List of NATO reporting names for air-to-surface missiles, List of NATO reporting names for air-to-air missiles and List of NATO reporting names for surface-to-surface missiles, but I don't really have time right now to do the others.  Also, I think it might be appropriate to make the lists into tables, but I'm not familiar enough with the topic to know what appropriate column headings should be.  Xtifr tälk 20:25, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  List cleanup 

message: Two of the five countries on the commission aren't members of NATO (Australia and New Zealand). Are these names used by the non-English speaking NATO countries? It seems rather odd if the names aren't used by the majority of member countries. Lisiate 00:33, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Because NATO adopted them and, since "NATO" is more well-known than ASCC, "NATO reporting names" has become the common way to refer to them. Askari Mark (Talk) 17:13, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I guess that makes sense. But the thought of non-English speaking countries using the names as well seems a little odd - I wonder how Foxbat sounds said by a Portuguese speaker. Lisiate 03:20, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: When I was in the Danish Navy during the Cold War we used the NATO reporting names in Aircraft Recognition. Even though the number of vowels dictates the number of syllables in Danish, we still knew that 'BEAr' was propeller driven etc. On the radio it was funny to hear German, Norwegian and Danish tongues trying to pronounce the NATO reporting names, so it was used by non-English speaking countries. NATO was a major standardisation organisation, so even Portuguese must have used 'Foxbat' (is it obscene in Portuguese?). A Danish fighter squadron could land on a Portuguese air base and be replenished. A  means hydraulic fluid, a  means lubricating oil etc. Necessary Evil 18:21, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: (Edit conflict) I'm sure there are some interesting accents! BTW, NATO air operations are chiefly standardized on the use of English – as is most civil aviation air traffic control, so it's not quite as odd as it seems. Askari Mark (Talk) 18:24, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Why are they called 'NATO' reporting names?

message: Is this system related to the WWII practice of assigning nicknames to Japanese aircraft? (Tony, Oscar, Frank, etc.) Drutt (talk) 16:36, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It evolved from that practice. In both cases, the actual designations/names were not always known at first, so this further sustained the approach. Askari Mark (Talk) 22:31, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: WWII

message: NATO was formed in 1949 but throughout the Korean War (1950-1953) the MiG-15 was referred to in the Western press simply as the "MiG-15" (not "falcon," its original reporting name, or "fagot," its best-known code name). This leads to the question: when was this system adopted? or when did it start becoming known to the general public? 165.91.64.137 (talk) 21:32, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It’s difficult to answer your questions because the assignments were – and remain – classified; what names have appeared have been leaked over time.  It should also be kept in mind that these code names were used primarily for intelligence purposes, not operational practices.  The ASCC was established in 1948, but I have not seen any source that says when it started assigning reporting names.  From 1947-55, the US used what were called “Type” numbers.  Obviously, something had to have replaced them, so it’s fair to speculate that they were introduced circa 1954-55.  I don’t know when the first example of the ASCC usage appeared in a public source, but certainly not until after the actual Russian designation became known.  Askari Mark (Talk) 00:06, 16 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: timing

message: The US Convair B-36 had six propellers and four jet engines - if the Soviet Union had a similar aircraft, would its Nato reporting name have one or two syllables? And what if they got tiltrotor aircraft, would their names begin with the letter 'H' or what? The Mil Mi-12 'Homer' and Kamov Ka-22 'Hoop' had transverse rotors, so they weren't tiltrotors. --Regards, Necessary Evil (talk) 15:52, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The Americans don't classify their own Ospreys as helos, so I doubt NATO would classify ROW tiltrotor aircraft as such.  92.48.99.38 (talk) 17:34, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  What if USSR had B-36 and V-22? 

message: I've spent years and years not knowing what a "ganef" or "gimlet" is. So, I started putting links to Wikipedia or Wiktionary into the relevant articles. Since this affects many pages I thought I'd make a note of it on here.
I have only added definitions for names that are obscure, according to my arbitrary decision on which names were obscure and which were not. I didn't add inline definitions. One might be especially useful at Scud, but I'm not sure which of the several definitions of the word was intended. I've read before that "scud" is low-lying cloud.
So far, I've done the AA, AS, SA, SS and AT series of missiles. I haven't done SA-N- or SS-N- missiles or any reporting names for Chinese equipment. I looked through the aircraft lists, and I don't think there's nearly as much need for definitions, as there are only a few obscure words. 
These are the pages affected.
NATO reporting name	Article affected	Link      	Definition
SS-1 Scud          	Scud            	Scud      	Low clouds bringing rain, or to run swiftly.
SS-5 Skean         	R-14 Chusovaya  	Skean     	A double-edged, leaf-shaped, typically bronze dagger formerly used in Ireland and Scotland.
SS-6 Sapwood       	R-7 Semyorka    	Sapwood   	The part of a tree through which sap flows, as distinguished from heartwood, where sap does not flow.
SS-8 Sasin         	SS-8 Sasin      	Sasin     	An Indian antelope.
SS-10 Scrag        	UR-200          	Scrag     	A derogatory term for a female used in Australia.
SS-11 Sego         	UR-100          	Sego      	A plant native to the western US.
SS-12 Scaleboard   	SS-22 Scaleboard	Scaleboard	A thin slip of wood used to justify a page
SA-4 Ganef         	2K11 Krug       	Ganef     	A thief or rascal.
SA-5 Gammon        	S-200 (missile) 	Gammon    	The hind side of a whole bacon.
SA-9 Gaskin        	9K31 Strela-1   	Gaskin    	Part of the hind leg of a horse.
SA-16 Gimlet       	9K38 Igla       	Gimlet    	A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes; also a cocktail.
SA-18 Grouse       	9K38 Igla       	Grouse    	A game bird.
SA-19 Grison       	9K22 Tunguska   	Grison    	A South American wolverine.
AS-2 Kipper        	AS-2 Kipper     	Kipper    	A split, smoked herring.
AS-5 Kelt          	AS-5 Kelt       	Kelt      	An Atlantic salmon which has spawned.
AS-11 Kilter       	AS-11 Kilter    	Kilter    	A pixie in “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus”, 1902.
AS-12 Kegler       	Kh-25           	Kegler    	One who enjoys bowling.
AS-14 Kedge        	Kh-29           	Kedge     	A type of anchor.
AA-3 Anab          	Kaliningrad K-8 	Anab      	A city mentioned in the Bible.
AT-5 Spandrel      	9M113 Konkurs   	Spandrel  	The space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure.
AT-7 Saxhorn       	9K115 Metis     	Saxhorn   	A brass instrument resembling a bugle, but with valves.
AT-14 Spriggan     	9M133 Kornet    	Spriggan  	A legendary creature from Cornish folklore.
I hope this is useful to some readers and, of course, I encourage other editors to add or correct entries. The definitions above are more or less the ones I put into the edit comment box. They're not necessarily the right ones, just the ones that seemed most likely.
Roches (talk) 00:44, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Obscure words used as NATO reporting names 

message: Does the Chinese Navy qualify for a list? All its ship types have NATO reporting names. I've added Chinese subs to the submarine list but they could feature in a Chinese Navy list.
List of NATO reporting names for ships
Or
List of NATO reporting names for ships of the Chinese Navy
Lankyant (talk) 03:49, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Chinese Navy List 

message: The notes section is blank here. Should this be removed or were some previous notes deleted for some reason? ABCDOMG (talk) 21:53, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Notes section empty 

message: Dear , there have been several posters making the point that these designations were ASCC now Air Forces Interoperability Council, not repeat not NATO, and WP is actually not in the business of perpetuating inaccuracies. From my personal perspective, I've been using such designations for 20 plus years, and since I came across them, I knew they were ASCC originally, and I'm a New Zealander - have little affiliation with NATO.
I would rather see the page moved to AFIC forthwith.
There is no problem whatsoever with redirects remaining for "NATO reporting name" to account for any *proved* "common usage," but in the same way that we all switched over to Russian real designations rather than DOD or ASCC codenames in the 1990s, we ought to switch here to what is correct.
Do you have anything more to add, references, I trust, before I begin an RM or discussion at the forum you mentioned, WT:MILHIST? CC  and  Buckshot06 (talk) 20:58, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Go ahead with the RM and/or WT:MILHIST, and we'll see what the community thinks. I haven't changed my opinion per WP:COMMONNAME, but I'll abide by the consensus. My preference is for an RM with a notice at WT:MILHIST and WT:AIR, but whichever way you want to go is fine with me. BilCat (talk) 21:05, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: If not a discussion, I have just dropped an advisory at WT:MILHIST, so more people can come in. Buckshot06 (talk) 21:17, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  ASCC -> AFIC rather that NATO 

message: Most of the NATO reporting names have two syllables, some only one; are there any with more than two syllables? Thank you, Maikel (talk) 07:40, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Syllables