missiles are fully operational and fully explosive
loaded rounds, designed for service use in combat.
NONSERVICE MISSILES.These include all
types of missiles other than service or tactical. They are
subdivided as captive air training missiles (CATMs),
dummy air training missiles (DATMs), special air
training missiles (NATMs), and practice guided
weapons (PGWs).
Some practice and training missiles are used for
actual launching. They contain live propulsion and
guidance systems with inert loaded warheads. They are
fitted with pyrotechnic fuze indicator signals and/or
tracking flares that give a visual indication of
missile/target impact. These missiles can also be fitted
with a telemetry-type warhead, which transmits
electronic signals to a monitoring station. The
monitoring station displays the missile's in-flight
performance and missile/target hit. Some types of
exercise missiles contain explosive-destruct charges so
the missiles destroy themselves in flight. These
explosive-destruct charges, when installed, are used as
a safety measure so the missile does not travel beyond
the established target range.
The CATMs are used for pilot training in aerial
target acquisition and aircraft controls/displays. They
have both tactical and training components.
The DATMs are ground training missiles used to
train
ground
personnel
in
missile
assembly/
disassembly, uploading/downloading, and handling
procedures.
The NATMs are used for pilot training during fleet
weapon training exercises.
The PGWs are used for stowage procedures and
techniques. All components are completely inert.
Service missiles are fired as practice or training
missiles when approved by proper authority. Normally,
approval is restricted to missiles that are obsolete or to
missiles that have exceeded their normal service life.
Guided missiles used in naval aviation include
air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. Air-to-air guided
missiles are fired by one aircraft against another
aircraft. Air-to-surface guided missiles are fired from
an aircraft against a target on the land or water surface.
For further information on the classification of
guided missiles, you should refer to United States Navy
Ammunition
Historical
and
Functional
Data,
NAVSEA SWO10-AB-GTP-010, and Identification of
Ammunition, NAVSEA SW010-AF-ORD-010.
MISSILE DESIGNATION
The Department of Defense established a missile
and rocket designation sequence. The basic designation
(table 3-1) of every guided missile are letters, which are
in sequence. The sequence indicates the following:
1.
The environment from which the vehicle is
launched
2.
The primary mission of the missile
3.
The type of vehicle
Examples of guided missile designators common
to the Aviation Ordnanceman are as follows:
Designator
Meaning
AGM
Air-launched,
surface-attack,
guided
missile
AIM
Air-launched, intercept-aerial, guided
missile
ATM
Air-launched, training guided missile
RIM
Ship-launched, intercept-aerial, guided
missile
A design number follows the basic designator. In
turn, the number may be followed by consecutive
letters, which show a modification. For example, the
designation of AGM-88C means the missile is an
air-launched (A), surface-attack (G), missile (M),
eighty-eighty missile design (88), third modification
(C).
In addition, most guided missiles are given popular
names, such as Sparrow, Sidewinder, and Harpoon.
These names are retained regardless of subsequent
modifications to the original missile.
MISSILE IDENTIFICATION
The external surfaces of all Navy guided missiles,
except radome and antenna surfaces, are painted white.
The color white has no identification color-coding
significance when used on guided missiles.
There are three significant color codes used on
guided missiles and their componentsyellow, brown,
and blue. These color codes indicate the explosive
hazard in the missile component. If components are
painted blue on a practice missile and have a yellow or
brown band painted on them, the component has an
explosive component that doesn't have a comparable
part in a service missile.
3-2