BLUF
It seems F13 wasn’t used because of superstition. Instead, a YF-17 prototype (late 1960’s) lightweight fighter was designed to be cheaper than the F15 but lost out to the F16. So after a redesign, it became the F/A-18.Summary
Peter Suciu writing in 19FortyFive makes the following points:
To reduce confusion, the US Tri-Service aircraft designation system was introduced in 1962 as follows:
- A - attack aircraft.
- B - bomber.
- C - cargo.
- E - special electronic installation.
- F – fighter.
- K – tanker.
- L - laser-equipped.
- O – observation.
- P - maritime patrol.
- R- reconnaissance.
- S - anti-submarine warfare.
- T – trainer.
- U – utility.
- X -special research.
When developing the YF-20 Tigershark Northrop was offered the F-19 designation, but wanted an even number because so many Soviet aircraft had odd numbers!
References
Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:
- F-15E: The Greatest Fighter Jet Ever? - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- The Block 70 F-16 Fighting Falcon Looks Like A Killer - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- Why The F-15I “Ra’am” Fighter Is So Crucial For Israel - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- The Importance Of The U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- 11 of the Weirdest X-Plane Designs - The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
