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Newbie Joined: Feb 12, 2004 Posts: 8 Status: Offline

Anybody care to guess which road they're going to take in naming the F-35 (when it's in production).

The F-22's name was unsure for a while, Lightning II, Rapier, etc.

Since it's going to be a joint US/UK aircraft, I'm guessing they're not going to follow the current US trend of using predatory birds. Besides, we've already used up all the cool sounding ones, even having to go to the generic(yet really cool sounding) raptor. What is it going to be, the F-35 "spotted owl"?

We always try to PC the names of our weapons. Only a few of them really are as appropriate as they should be. Often, the crews make up their own, more fitting nicknames(Bone, Buff, viper, warthog, zipper, thud, etc) that truly convey the purpose of the craft.

B-2 "spirit"? Come on, that should have been the B-2 "Black Death"!

I guess the higher ups don't want pilots flying these nice and pretty planes with scary names(Phantom, Demon, Hellcat were pretty "negative")--it's not "PC."anymore, as the US doesn't want to be seen as aggressive at all.

Our hope for cool-sounding names seems to lie in UAV's. Predator is pretty fitting, at least when they strapped hellfires to it. the predator b will be even better, holding 10 of the suckers. Darkstar was cool, but it was canclled.

I'm looking forward to see what they're going to name the UCAV, X-45 (or was it 47) derivative. Since nobody has to ride in it, they can give a mean and scary name.

The Ac-130's got a great name, spectre. Pretty fitting, though, if you've seen the footage, "nightmare" would have been far more appropriate.

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Its definately not going to be named after some damn bird.

Id really like to see what the Navy-Mairnes and Airforce agrees on. Be like getting people to agree on a single three topping pizza. We were kicking names around one day and since most of the good ones were taken we sorta went with a sword/knives naming theme. Stilletto seemed to be the one that has most appeal to us, cause of the whole precision and stealth being an assasins weapon, it seemed to fit the plane.

We got into this on another thread, although I can't recall which one. Basically my argument was for no more II names. Read that to be...STOP NAMING PLANES AFTER WWII STUFF!!! We've already had Corsair II, Phantom II, Super Sabre, and others, but despite the fact that good names are hard to find, they need to come up with something original, but not laughable.

You're right. Spirit was a stupid name, as was Lancer, and Nighthawk (sounds like some creepy guy who bar hops all weekend.) The worst two worst things you can do with a plane, is name it something stupid, or not name it at all (bad luck.)

They didn't officially name the F-111, until the day it retired. What did the crews do? Well, they locked onto the fact that it had a long nose, and Aardvark stuck. They did name the EF-111 "Raven" but "Spark 'Vark" was more widely used.

Now, if they ABSOLUTELY HAD TO name a plane after an older plane, I say go with some of the older jets (post Korea.) Once again, NO WWII STUFF!!!! Sick to d@mn death with that crap. We've had a Corsair II (A-7,) and a Thunderbolt II (A-10.) Then, they tried a Mustang II (YF-16,) a Lightning II (YF-22,) and a Black Widow II (YF-23.) None of those worked, thankfully. Hellcat, Wildcat, Bearcat, and Airacobra were some of the other WWII fighter names, but the first 3, I'm sure the brass would say aren't "PC," and Airacobra is a stupid name anyway. It was dumb then, and it would never go as a "II" name.

So, bottom line, come up with something good and hopefully original for the F-35. But given recent history (Lancer, Nighthawk, Spirit, and Raptor) I'm sure it will end up being dumb too.

P.S.: Logic would dictate that if the 35 will be used by the USAF, USMC, USN, RAF, Royal Navy, and the IDF/AF, then they might try for Phantom III. I know, I know...another bloody sequel, but that would be one of the few FITTING sequel names, given Double Ugly's history with all of the above mentioned branches.

Elite 2K Joined: Sep 05, 2003 Posts: 2812 Status: Offline

Mini-Raptor

Son of Raptor

Raptor Jr.

Razz

What about "Peashooter II" Very Happy

?
Talking about birds of prey, I discovered that "buzzard" and "kite" Laughing

have never been used to name a plane...
Anyway, the F-35 is more likely to receive something really ridiculous like "Adamant Peregrine Falcon".

To be serious, I think that "Kestrel" could be a good name (if you except the ancestor of the Harrier, it has not been used since 30's, and a Kestrel is a small and efficient bird of prey, which fits the F-35 I think).

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 19, 2004 Posts: 27 Status: Offline

How about :

F-35 Pegasus ?

F-35 Thundercat ?

Elite 2K Joined: Sep 05, 2003 Posts: 2812 Status: Offline

Anyone remember the Curtiss XP-55 'Ascender'? The one with the motor on the a$$-end? err... Wink

Elite 1K Joined: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 1605 Status: Offline

Well if you figure a Brit input on the name, maybe something weather-related. There have already been: Hurricane, Lightining, Tornado, Typhoon, etc. What's left? "Microburst"? "Windshear"? Laughing

The Brits kept "Phantom" when they flew F-4s and we kept "Harrier" when the USMC got AV-8s.

Newbie Joined: Feb 12, 2004 Posts: 8 Status: Offline

Stiletto...that's not bad at all.

Raptor isn't a dumb name, not at all. Actually, it's the meanest sounding name we've got. The only repeat ONLY dumb thing about it is that stupid people and kids will think they are referring to a "Velociraptor", and not the generic term for all hawks eagles, falcons and hawks.

If you think of it in the actual sense, as a predatory bird, it's pretty neat.

Sabre, Claymore, Super-Sabre.... Katana?(see kill bill, and you'll want to name it a Katana)... Longsword?...

See the thing with the whole sword theme was that the sword has to fit the plane.

Broadsword sounds cool as hell, but its also more a name you'd give something like the A-10.
Stiletto just fit cause of the whole concieled assasin nature of the weapon and that its strike was almost always fatally percise.
Katana would work if we export it to the JSDF

Stiletto... Does anyone else think of a hooker's high heels when you hear that?

Besides, Stilettos are kinda wimpy knives when you think about it. I always remember that scene from Crocodile Dundee, when the thugs whipped one out, and then Mick pulls the Bowie knife on them. LOL! Great scene...Alas, Bowie knife wouldn't work for a fighter name. Machete, or Bolo might though.

Stiletto?? Whimpy??

Maybe you got the wrong knife idea in your head. The Stiletto is in its original medieval form a very long, very nasty weapon designed to kill in a single blow. And a favorite among assasins. Doesn't anybody else watch Conquest?

http://www.medieval-weaponry.co.uk/acat ... atalogBody

ha, in this post 9-11 world, they'll cook up something that tries to sound like it's got a pair of brass cajones.

I dunno....Kestrel to me would be cool, I mean it is a STOVL aircraft, but that's not gonna happen.
They'll probably end up naming it Freedom Fighter II or something like that.
I did a search of names for birds of prey, these are the best ones I found:

King Vulture
Condor
Golden Eagle
Caracara
Falconet

By the way, wasn't the X-3 named Stiletto? (a good name, relating to its very special shape)

you are correct sir!

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F-35 name assumptions