# Do "cool" names for military weapons really make a difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2023, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887 "2023-05-11T12:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/122 "2024-02-26T23:04:14Z")
I’ll take “stuffy bureaucracy” for $200, Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/123 "2024-02-27T08:08:35Z")
Speaking of “Cool Names” for the military, there was a story about an 7th Regiment Air Cav post in VietNam where the higher up decided letting the troopers name their base would improve morale. “Dien Bien Phu 2” as was “Little Big Horn the Sequel” were rejected as inappropriate. They went with “Masada” for a couple of months until someone told the higher brass about the Siege at Masada. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/124 "2024-02-29T08:07:52Z")
Viper is the official designation given to new build F16s, and the Air Force has given at least partial recognition to the name (e.g., Air Combat Command Viper Demonstration Team). Unrelated: the UK MOD’s anti-tank missile is called Brimstone because it was originally a development of the US Hellfire (it was eventually spun off into an entirely new design). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/125 "2024-04-01T15:17:25Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Prior to WWII, Japanese authorities tried to eliminate many loanwords, and invented a number of words used in baseball, for example, so that “pure” Japanese could be used and not “enemy words.” I don’t think many of the new baseball names stuck. 🙂 Japanese baseball is endearingly English, including the mystifying (to me, anyway) insistence on having English team names on uniforms.\* - - While universally true at the professional level, Japanese high school teams sometimes have Japanese script on their jerseys, it’s not consistent at that level, though of course in Japan, high school baseball is a huge deal. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/126 "2024-04-02T11:07:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t think many of the new baseball names stuck. Actually they have, especially in news. Picking a random story: > [@](#): > > 阪神の **ドラフト** 3位の山田脩也内野手（18）が憧れの中日根尾昂投手との初対戦で安打を放った。 > > 2回の第1打席。無死二塁で143キロの直球を振り抜き、左前打とした。仙台育英2年夏の甲子園で優勝し、3年夏も準優勝した山田。18年に大阪桐蔭で春夏制覇した根尾との初対戦に興奮を隠さなかった。「春夏連覇した代のすごい強い **イメージ** だったので、いつか対戦できたら良いなと思っていました。少し自信になりました」と笑みを浮かべた。 And a rough translation into English: > [@](#): > > Hanshin’s 3rd round **draft** pick, infielder Yamada Shuya (18), achieved a hit in his first encounter with Chunichi pitcher Neoya Ko, someone he has admired. > > In the first inning of the second round, with no outs and a runner on second, he swung through a 143 km/h fastball, hitting a single to left field. Yamada, who won the Summer Koshien with Sendai Ikuei in his second year and was runner-up in his third year, couldn’t hide his excitement in facing Neoya, who achieved spring and summer victories with Osaka Toin in 2018. “I had a strong **image** of the team’s consecutive victories in spring and summer, so I always hoped I could face him someday. I gained a little confidence,” he said with a smile. The only baseball term in that stirty which was taken from English is **ドラフト** for “draft”, while all the rest of the terms use native Japanese words. (The other English loan word is **イメージ** for “image.”) There are many loan words or partical loan words which are used, including プロ野球 (puro yakyuu) prefessional baseball, and in conversations so words such as “safe” and “out” are used while news accounts tend to use native words. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/127 "2024-04-02T23:00:56Z")
Nvm, wildly offtopic ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/128 "2024-04-04T01:54:32Z")
I’m surprised none mentioned how we got the word Jeep, from GP (General Purpose) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/129 "2024-04-04T02:54:30Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > I’m surprised none mentioned how we got the word Jeep, from GP Because it might not be true. It may have come from the Popeye character. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/130 "2024-04-06T00:41:33Z")
It isn’t true. G was a Ford code for defense products and P denoted an 80 inch wheelbase. Plus it would only have been known to those in procurement roles. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/131 "2024-07-01T04:37:11Z")
When I was very active in the AOL SD forum, I researched this question. I emailed the US Army Transportation Corps museum and asked for verification if the original name of the Jeep was “Truck 1/4 ton 4x4 GP”. A curator replied saying I was right until I got to the “GP”. It was never “GP”. I think it was maybe RS, but for reconnaissance/scout. It first came out with a big radio mounted on the back powered by the alternator/battery for the engine so it had a lot more range than those hand held walkie talkies. Interviews with the test drivers who drove the 3 different candidates for the Army vehicle agreed that one driver after testing the Willys sample compared it to the new character in the Popeye cartoons, Eugene the Magical Jeep, who could walk up walls and across ceilings. The name “Jeep” stuck with the vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/132 "2024-07-01T11:06:41Z")
thank you for info, I stand corrected ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/133 "2024-07-01T11:31:13Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The UH-1 helicopter was officially called “Iroquois”. The troops in VietNam called it a “Huey”. Helicopters were frequently named after Indian tribes - AH-64, Apache, CH-47 Chinook, OH-58 Kiowa, RAH-66 Comanche, etc etc. Which seems a bit odd IMHO. Then again, sometimes they give them silly names like the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant or MD-6 Little Bird. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/134 "2024-07-01T11:53:41Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Helicopters were frequently named after Indian tribes - AH-64, Apache, CH-47 Chinook, OH-58 Kiowa, RAH-66 Comanche, etc etc. > > Which seems a bit odd IMHO. This is the US Army’s naming convention, so it wouldn’t apply to the HH-3E. The “Little Bird” is just a specific variant of the OH-6 Cayuse, so even that one has a tribe name. Sometimes variants have different names. For example, the AH-64E model is called a “Guardian” even though it’s just a variant of the Apache. There was also the The AH-1 Cobra that was developed from the UH-1 Iroquois. Today, this naming convention is merely tradition, but it used to be an official policy, starting with the H-13 Sioux. Army Regulation 70-28 dtd. 1969, mandated that Army Aircraft required “Indian terms and names of American Indian tribes and chiefs”, with names provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Other rules for naming military equipment included: Names must: 1. Appeal to the imagination without sacrificing dignity. 2. Suggest an aggressive spirit and confidence in the item’s capabilities. 3. Reflect the item’s characteristics including mobility, agility, flexibility, firepower, and endurance. 4. Be based on tactical application, not source or method of manufacture. 5. Be associated with the preceding qualities and criteria if a person’s name is proposed. > **[Why Army helicopters have Native American names](https://www.army.mil/article/240476/why_army_helicopters_have_native_american_names)** > > WASHINGTON -- You may have noticed there’s a pattern in U.S. Army helicopter names – Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook and others. These crucial aircraft are... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887/135 "2024-07-01T13:36:22Z")
Which tradition continues with what I believe is the Army’s newest type as of today: > **[Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_UH-72_Lakota)** > > The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145, built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a division of Airbus Group, Inc. Several hundred UH-72 of various types have entered service by the 2020s since their introduction in 2006. > Initially marketed as the UH-145, the helicopter was selected as the winner of the United States Army's Light Utilit... Many experiments and prototypes and notional designs have been created in the ~20 years since the Lakota was born. So far IIRC none of those efforts have survived (yet) into series production. If / When the Army eventually does field a new rotorcraft it’ll be interesting to see if they choose to continue the Native American (“NA”) naming. The same NA naming also applied to Army fixed wing airplanes. In many cases they were in effect hand-me-downs or variants of models first built for and named by other services. But where the Army was the service of first use, NA names were the standard. E.g. > **[Grumman OV-1 Mohawk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_OV-1_Mohawk)** > > The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an American armed military observation and attack aircraft that was designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It has a twin turboprop configuration, and carries two crew members in side-by-side seating. The Mohawk was intended to operate from short, unimproved runways in support of United States Army maneuver forces. > The Mohawk began as a joint Army-Marine program through the then-Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), for an observation/attack ... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cool-names-for-military-weapons-really-make-a-difference/983887.md?page=6)