Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

Lets call this an open thread for discussion of aircraft names.
I kind of think that "Warhawk II" would have been a good name for the JSF, but it has been mentioned that there is the issue of manufacturers not poaching each other's names.
I would also get a kick out of naming the "last fighter" after the first: the P-1 was apparently the "Hawk".

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I dislike the name Lightning for F-35.

The original US Lightning was an expensive interceptor that was hard to fly and fight.

The original UK Lightning was a limited hot rod.

I like Mustang, Hurricane or Tempest.

I actually think the F-35 will be the last fighter. I see conflict going cyber and with drones.

Oh, I think there will be at least one more generation -- though they will likely be more "drone tenders" than fighters.
Given the "spider sitting in it's web" of drones, maybe Black Widow II would be appropriate...

You started the thread! Beat me to it! Applause

Considering the F-35's single-engine, single-seat design, and its multiplicity of uses, operators, and variants, there really isn't anything else under the Lockmart umbrella to name it after. The only possiblity would be **deep, serious, announcer's voice** THE FIGHTING FALCON TWOOO- or something like that. Perhaps they could've called it Viper? Or named it after the Starfighter, just because it sounds cool? I don't think we should limit the thread's names to those which would be legal. I say we call it what we WANT to call it! Very Happy

And I want to call it... F-35 Vulture. Inspired by the bird of prey naming mechanism used on the Raptor, "Fighting Falcon", and Eagle. Plus, it sounds evil. And that's always a good thing.

Quote:

I actually think the F-35 will be the last fighter. I see conflict going cyber and with drones.

And I doubt we're near the end of fighterdom. Stealth just made BVR as obsolete against current-gen aircraft as the engineers thought dogfighting was in the early 60's. UAV's were just proven to have a massive shortcoming when Iran grabbed one of our better drones out of the clear blue sky.

Tanks were supposted to have been obsolete for many decades now, yet they're still seen as the king when it comes to direct land warfare.
And when it comes to direct aerial warfare (which can outdo all other types in terms of survivability/lethality) nothing beats reaching for the clouds in a stout machine to bring others down to earth.

Anyways, lets get back On Topic

I'm actually starting to like the Warhawk II name.

It looks like panther and puma are already taken...
I had no idea that Grumman produced so many carrier aircraft between the Bearcat and the Tomcat.

The first thing we need to do is re-number the Super Hornet and Growler:

F/A-18E = F-24A Super Hornet
F/A-18F = F-24B Super Hornet
EA-18G = F-24G Growler

Then we give the A-model its own designation:

F-35A = F-28A Lightning II

If they ever develop a two seat version it would naturally be the F-28B Lightning II. And an electronic warfare version would be the F-28G Wild Weasel.

I don't care for the 'Lightning' name, especially when the nickname is already overused. Non-english forms of the word (i.e. Barak) are also very popular, so it makes it too common. Fine name, but when I think about it the name Mustang II sure sounds good. F-28A Mustang II. The only name that is appropriate for a Lockheed program and perhaps even sounds better is F-28A Aurora II.

Next, we give the C-model its own designation and a USN-centric name:

F-35C = F-25A Wildcat II

Wildcat is a Grumman name, but it also represents one of the most important fighters of the USN during the Second World War.

Last, we give the B-model its own designation and a USMC-centric name:

F-35B = F-26A Diplomat

For one, the "Diplomats" was a famous USMC squadron. Second, the USMC have a motto: "The Ultimate solution when Diplomacy Fails: The United States Marine Corps." My backup name would be 'Bulldog', after the USMC mascot.

Super Duper Sabre?

Personally, I like "eff-thirty-five" as the name, but since it's equally at home inland or in the open sea, why not call it "bull-shark"?

"Raptor" was stupid. USAF's previous two fighters were already both named after raptors, as were a handful of others like the Whateverhawks (they need to add a Whatever because Hawk is too short I guess, which could also partially explain why no Owls or Bats). Just using the group name, instead of picking a member within the group or coming up with a name that has nothing to do with raptors, says "We didn't even try."

No silly "II" on anything anywhere ever. (And none of what's implied by the precedent either: III, IV, XLVI...) Yes, we know some planes are going to share names, because the supply of good names is limited, but that does not in any way make a modern plane a sequel to some prior plane.

We've got Lightnings and Thunderbolts flying simultaneously for a while. Like "Raptor" together with all of the previous raptors, this just demonstrates a very narrow concept of how to come up with names. They used to also be named after flightless animals (Mustang, Tomcat, Aardvark, Tigershark), arthropods (Hornet, Black Widow), traditional weapons or the people who used them (Saber, Cutlass, Lancer), types of people (Marauder, Viking), personification of their own traits (hard to detect = Spirit and the Night in Nighthawk), other types of vehicles (Corsair)... now apparently there's been a law passed that they all have to be Yet Another Raptor Or Reference To Lightning/Thunder.

You could call it the Oracle (all-seeing thanks to EODAS).

Thunderhawk, Viper II, Chickenhawk... Laughing

southernphantom wrote:

You could call it the Oracle (all-seeing thanks to EODAS).

Thunderhawk, Viper II, Chickenhawk... Laughing

How about NightOwl? Sounds cool, actually...
Although I must admit Viper II sounds even better than Vulture. Shocked

Yeah, NightOwl would work well. I agree; fighter names are growing ever more boring. Either some kind of bird or some kind of bad weather. Raptor, Lightning, Typhoon, Rafale...

Taking a ride in my Phantom 3-point-ohhh spotting me some geeenicide
Poor bastard doesn't see my god eye view, rod of god about to reap what he sows

madrat wrote:

Taking a ride in my Phantom 3-point-ohhh spotting me some geeenicide
Poor bastard doesn't see my God eye view, rod of God about to reap what he sows

Uhh...I'm not sure if you're rapping or reading Revelation...

firstimpulse wrote:

southernphantom wrote:

You could call it the Oracle (all-seeing thanks to EODAS).

Thunderhawk, Viper II, Chickenhawk... Laughing

How about NightOwl? Sounds cool, actually...
Although I must admit Viper II sounds even better than Vulture. Shocked

Adder?
Black Adder?
Diamondback?
Alligator?

Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

What would you call it?