British military aircraft designation systems
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British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.
Since the end of the First World War, aircraft types in British military service have generally been known by a service name (e.g. 'Spitfire'), with individual variants recognised by mark numbers, often in combination with a letter to indicate the role. This is in contrast to identification systems used in countries such as the United States, where an aircraft type is primarily identified by an alphanumeric designation.
The British military aircraft designations (e.g. 'Spitfire Mark V' or 'Hercules C3') should not be confused with the military aircraft registration (also known as its "serial"[1]) used to identify individual aircraft (e.g. XR220), nor with U.S. aircraft designations (e.g. C-5, C-17, MQ-9) or manufacturer's designations (e.g. Sikorsky S-58, Jaguar B, WS-61, AW139, WAH-64), though mark numbers were used to indicate aircraft built for other nations e.g. Hawker Hunter Mk.58 was a Hunter F.6 for the Swiss Air Force.
No designation system was introduced during World War I that covered more than the products of a single manufacturer. The Admiralty frequently referred to designs by the serial of the first aircraft of that type to be accepted for service.