# Choose a name for the F-23 military airplane **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211 "2016-10-30T23:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/21 "2016-10-31T22:31:12Z")
Quoting your quote: > [@scr4](#): > > From [this article on military aircraft names](http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0221.shtml): > > > [@](#): > > > > However, the Air Force rejected Lockheed’s suggestions and instead named the plane the Rapier, **which is a type of small knife.** Regarding the bit I highlighted… [dafuq?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapier)😕 A rapier is “a small knife” like a [16"/60 Caliber Mark 7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16%22/50_caliber_Mark_7_gun) is a small gun. Besides, the Air Force already has had a Rapier in its historical inventory: the [XF-108 Rapier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XF-108_Rapier) escort fighter/interceptor, a parallel development of the XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber. The program died pretty much alongside the Valkyrie project, but that was a part of the Air Force (developmental) inventory, and therefore “Rapier” counted. Any new Rapier would be a “II”. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/22 "2016-10-31T23:00:14Z")
F-23? Isn’t that “Jeff The Diseased Lung” at the start of John Oliver’s show??? ---
**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/23 "2016-10-31T23:11:00Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > It looks like a dolphin to me. Not a very scary name, admittedly… Dolphin sounds too fit. Manatee, the name should be manatee to sound more bloated. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/24 "2016-10-31T23:17:40Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Since they didn’t use the Mamba moniker for a production fighter how about that? Fast, silent, and lethal. > > Cobra is used, quite obviously. Fighty McFightface, S.B.D. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/25 "2016-10-31T23:58:49Z")
California Mountain Snake. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/26 "2016-11-01T00:28:03Z")
> [@Salvor](#): > > Dolphin sounds too fit. > > Manatee, the name should be manatee to sound more bloated. That would be the [x-32](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-32) ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/27 "2016-11-01T00:52:49Z")
BMF of course …because at some point \*someone \*will ask which airplane is the F-23, and we can all reply with “The one that says … on it.” ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/28 "2016-11-01T02:31:28Z")
Flippy ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/29 "2016-11-01T02:34:39Z")
Might as well save some of these for upcoming aircraft. You don’t know when you might need them. (And yes, Rapier is no knife, it’s a dueling sword. The heck?) Naming planes after birds of prey has the issue that you run out of the familiar or cool ones - Eagle, Raptor, Osprey, Falcon, various types of Hawk… Owl?? Condor, just as long as nobody remembers it’s a scavenger. Nobody will want Vulture. And who the heck outside the birdwatchers’ club even knows what a Krestel is. I would say things like “Wraith” should be saved for stealth attack aircraft and such. Make it something that comes in the night and scares the bejeezus out of you and you can’t fight it. And whenever there is a true A-10 successor, name it the Sledgehammer or the Ripper, don’t get subtle. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/30 "2016-11-01T02:37:43Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > … And who the heck outside the birdwatchers’ club even knows what a Krestel is… They prefer to be called “Birders” not “birdwatchers”, so says my wife and 4 generations of crazy birder women in her family. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/31 "2016-11-01T03:30:29Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I would say things like “Wraith” should be saved for stealth attack aircraft and such. Make it something that comes in the night and scares the bejeezus out of you and you can’t fight it. Well, the F-23 _is_ a stealth aircraft. And it’s not inconceivable that, like the F-22, the F-23 might might be adapted for service, or even have a formal dedicated variant as, a ground-attack aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/32 "2016-11-01T03:45:48Z")
Fuckbomb ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/33 "2016-11-01T04:29:28Z")
The USA F 23 asl? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/34 "2016-11-01T05:00:29Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Fruit Fly F-15 flies like an eagle, F-23 flies like a banana? ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/35 "2016-11-01T14:35:33Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > If you don’t like “Black Widow”, how about “Tarantula”? Tarantula _Hawk_ Also: Chicken Hawk Turkey Vulture Air Bear The Green Manalishi With The Two-Pronged Crown George ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/36 "2016-11-01T14:36:59Z")
Even thought the F-16 is officially the Fighting Falcon, most USAF guys call it Viper so the snake thing is still viable. I’d fly a Vulture, it sounds vaguely ominous like a gunship, like something in HALO. Also, eagles are quite frequently carrion eaters, too so it’s not like the vultures are alone in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/37 "2016-11-01T18:26:45Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Fuckbomb If you do a multimission reconaissance/bomber type airplane, you may wind up with something like the “BR-41 Photobomber” 😃 > [@swampspruce](#): > > Even thought the F-16 is officially the Fighting Falcon, most USAF guys call it Viper so the snake thing is still viable. > I’d fly a Vulture, it sounds vaguely ominous like a gunship, like something in HALO. I see here that the Marines’ last version of the much upgraded Cobra Gunship, the AH-1Z, has been given the “Viper” name. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/38 "2016-11-01T20:27:57Z")
Thank you for the answers everyone! (well the serious ones anyway) 🙂 I was certain the old PC game Strike Commander featured a YF-23 with a different name, but its not coming up on my google searches. ---
**Author:** ![Majestic\_Lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Majestic\_Lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Majestic_Lee)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/39 "2016-11-01T23:06:13Z")
Planey McPlaneface ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211/40 "2016-11-02T13:50:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And who the heck outside the birdwatchers’ club even knows what a Krestel is. Kestrel was the name the RAF gave to the development prototypes of what later became the Harrier. So it would probably have to be Kestrel II. The Kestrel is the most common hawk in the uk and can be seen hovering over fields all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-a-name-for-the-f-23-military-airplane/770211.md?page=3)