Legend for Numeric Designations
CL: Lockheed
D: Douglas
NA: North American [1]
WS (Weapon System)
Weapon System is a United States military term that designated, along with a weapon system number (e.g., WS-110), military experimental (MX)[2] systems prior to official naming (e.g., under a military aircraft designation system. Preceded by the first Skunk Works program (MX-813 (Convair XF-92) in 1946),[1]:76 the earliest[verification needed] "WS" designation was the 1954 WS-117L.[2]:22 Circa February 1950, an Air Research and Development Command" study prepared by Maj Gen Gordon P. Saville ... recommended that a 'systems approach' to new weapons be adopted [whereby] development of a weapon "system" required development of support equipment as well as the actual hardware itself."[1]:166
US weapon programs often were initiated by numbered government specifications such as an Advanced Development Objective (e.g., ADO-40) or a General Operational Requirement (e.g., GOR.80), although some programs were initially identified by contractor numbers (e.g., CL-282).1
The term also made its way into UK use and by 1959 was causing some confusion as to its origins and meaning.[3]
| Number | Link to Wikipage |
|---|---|
| Project 3[4]:67 | TCP for technical intelligence collection systems |
| Program 101, 102 (GOR-170)[3] | Samos (satellite) |
| WS-104A | SM-64 Navaho |
| WS-107A | SM-65 Atlas |
| WS-110 (GOR.82) | |
| WS-110A | |
| WS-110L | supersonic reconnaissance aircraft |
| Article 121 | Lockheed A-12 |
| WS-125A (GOR.81) | XB-70 Valkyrie |
| WS-117L (GOR.80)[4]:80–87 | Advanced Reconnaissance System (originally Project 1115);[2]:30 recoverable capsule - Pied Piper/Sentry/SAMOS; television transmission - unfeasible;:87 Subsystem G: MiDAS |
| WS-119B (USAF 7795)[4]:139 | Bold Orion ASAT |
| WS-119L | Project Moby Dick (originally Project Genetrix)[2]:31–32 |
| GOR 148 | AGM-28 Hound Dog |
| WS-199 | Anti-satellite weapon |
| WS-199B | Bold Orion |
| WS-199C | High Virgo |
| WS-199D | Alpha Draco |
| WS-201A | 1954 interceptor |
| NA-211 | interceptor design similar to fighter-bomber design that would become North American F-107 |
| NA-212 | North American F-107 |
| CL-282[4]:71 | Lockheed U-2 |
| WS-306A | F-105 Thunderchief |
| WS315A | PGM-17 Thor missile[3] |
| MX-324 | Northrop XP-79 |
| WS-324A | General Dynamics F-111 |
| CL-400[4]:149 | Lockheed CL-400 Suntan |
| Program 437 (ADO-40)[2]:120 | "nonorbital collision course satellite interceptor" using modified Thor |
| Program 437 X (AP) | Alternate payload (AP) for satellite inspection ("a heritage of SAINT")[2]:125 |
| Program 437 Y[2]:128 | second development plan for Program 437 (later renamed Program 922) |
| Program 505[2]:118 | MUDFLAP ASAT |
| MX-544[5] | US copy of V-1 flying bomb (Republic-Ford JB-2 "Loon") |
| D-558 | Douglas Skystreak, Skyraider |
| Air Force System 609A | Blue Scout |
| Air Force System 621B[6] | GPS |
| DSP-647[4]:99 | Defense Support Program |
| MX-653[4] | Bell X-1 |
| MX-770 | SM-64 Navaho |
| MX-774 | feasibility designs for subsonic and supersonic surface-to-surface missiles (three WSPG launches July–December 1948)[7] leading to SM-65 Atlas |
| MX-776A | RTV-A-4 Shrike |
| MX-776B | GAM-63 RASCAL |
| MX-813 | Convair XF-92 |
| Program 893[2]:128 | ICBM ASAT |
| MX-904 | GAR-1 Falcon missile |
| Program 922[2]:129 | rename of Program 437 Y |
| Project MX-1554 | F-102 Delta Dagger |
| MX-1589 | nuclear-powered Convair B-36 |
| MX-1626 (FZP-110) | initial Convair proposal for eventual B-58 Hustler award |
| MX-1712 | Boeing Generalized Bomber Study (GEBO II) proposal]] (competitor against winning Convair MX-1712 design for B-58 Hustler) |
| MX-1964 | Convair B-58 Hustler (previously MX-1626) |
| MX-1965 | Boeing XB-59 |
| WS-3061 | F-105 Thunderchief |
Notes and references[]
^1 When a government program number is not available, a contractor number (if available) is used in the table, e.g., Lockheed CL-282 for the U-2.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 (Daso, Dik (Major, USAF) (September 1997). Architects of American Air Supremacy: General Hap Arnold and Dr Theodore von Kármán. Air University Press. pp. 76,166.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Stares, Paul B.. "The Militarization of Space". http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19851201fabook11624/paul-b-stares/the-militarization-of-space-u-s-policy-1945-1984.html. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Correspondence: Weapon System" (Flighglobal/Archive). 6 February 1959. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%200401.html. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Burroughs, William E. (- paperback) [1986]. Deep Black. New York: Berkley Publishing Group. ISBN 0-425-10879-1.
- ↑ Cooksley, Peter G (1979). Flying Bomb. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. p. 141.
- ↑ Preston, Bob (1994). "Plowshares and Power: The Military Use of Civil Space". pp. p250. http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA311050.
- ↑ Braun, Wernher von (Estate of); Ordway III, Frederick I & Dooling, David Jr. (1985) [1975]. Space Travel: A History. New York: Harper & Row. p. 132. ISBN 0-06-181898-4.
The original article can be found at Weapon system and the edit history here.