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{{subpages}} {{slashtitle|AN/ prefix}} Most U.S. military electronics equipment has designations in the form '''AN/ABC-99''', in which ''AN/'' (note slash) is purely an identification for a designation system, not an abbreviation. This always-evolving system began as the '''Joint (Army-Navy) Electronics Type Designation System'''. Information security equipment under the control of the [[National Security Agency]] belongs to the [[TSEC-|TSEC/XYZ series]], except certain of the letters in the AN/ system are reserved for NSA use. While the [[#designation systems codes|designation system codes]] are quite complex and still contain special cases, the basic structure is: *First letter: Where or how is it installed? *Second letter: What kind of information or energy does it handle? *Third letter: What does it do with the information or energy? The next numbers indicate a main model number within the series, followed by a bewildering and inconsistent set of version levels, alternate configurations, etc. Sometimes, what may seem an incremental improvement gets an entirely new model number, while a radical change may get a version change only. In other words, grasp the general principles of the system, but know that you will have to examine a specific system to understand its designation nuances. So, in each of the following three systems, the differences are in the first letter, which tells the kind of platform (aircraft, ship, ground-transportable) that carries it. *[[AN-|AN/]][[APY-2]] is an airborne tracking radar, which is aboard the [[E-3 Sentry]] Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft *[[AN-|AN/]][[SPY-2]] is a shipboard tracking radar, in this case the [[ballistic missile defense]] radar on ships equipped with the [[AEGIS battle management system]] *[[AN-|AN/]][[TPY-2]] is a ground-based [[ballistic missile defense]] radar, which is moved from operating location to location by truck or cargo aircraft The P in the second position means they radar energy, while the Y in the third position shows that they are combined target tracking and weapons fire control system. "Fire control" does not mean that the system is the only radar involved in guiding weapons for the application of the system; the three systems here are for long-range detection, and either guiding weapons-launching aircraft to the target or directing the initial flight of missiles. For example, the AN/SPY-2 detects a target, guides a [[RIM-156 Standard SM-2]] missile to it, but, for the final attack of the missile, an AN/SPG-62 radar "illuminates" the target with energy that will be detected by the terminal guidance radar receiver inside the missile. See the specific [[SPY-2|AN/SPY-2]], [[RIM-156 Standard SM-2]], and [[SPG-62|AN/SPG-62]] articles for further detail. A somewhat more complex example, [[AN-|AN/]][[APG-63|APG-63]] (V)3 is the airborne radar in the [[F-15 Eagle]] fighter. *A in the first position means airborne *P in the second position means radar *G in the third position, in this case, means weapons control *The first suffix part, (V) not only shows that it is a new version, but the (V) means it has a modular configuration, which can be changed in the field. *Following the (V), the 4 is a version number. As a practical demonstration that the number following the three letter code can be fairly arbitrary, the AN/APG-63 (V)4 not only replaces the (V)3 on the air superiority F-15, it also replaces the [[AN-|AN/]][[APG-70]] on the ground attack [[F-15E Strike Eagle]]. In contrast, a simple letter suffix means that the system is not field reconfigurable. *[[AN-|AN/]][[ALR-56]] is a software-controlled [[radar warning receiver]]. Its AN/ALR-56C model is on F-15 series fighters, but the AN/ALR-56M model is used on [[F-16 Fighting Falcon]] fighters and [[C-130 Hercules]] transports.

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