# Naming American Bombers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-american-bombers/164823>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 28, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-american-bombers/164823 "2003-03-28T17:37:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-american-bombers/164823/1 "2003-03-28T17:37:15Z")

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Why do modern or relatively modern aircraft like the B-2 and B-1 bombers have such a low number to identify them and planes built during WWII have higher numbers like B-29 or B-24?

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**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-american-bombers/164823/2 "2003-03-28T17:39:57Z")

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I suppose the same goes for fighter aircraft. Also, are their names official or just something they’re given to make talking about them easier, IIRC in WWII American aircraft were only given non-numerical names by other countries, true?

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-american-bombers/164823/3 "2003-03-28T18:27:47Z")

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[U.S. Military Aircraft Designations 1911-2002](http://www.driko.org/des.html) is pretty thorough, but awkward to navigate. [US Military Aviation Designation Systems](http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/) is another source. Simply put, they changed the systems used more than once; a quick glance reveals 1962 to be the year the current system came into being.