needs fixed - before 19xx, Canadian aircraft used British designations (see British Military Aircraft Designations).
needs fixed - now matches U.S. system - some exceptions used old U.S. system, some used British Mark system (see complete listing).
The first letter of the designation is always C, indicating a Canadian aircraft. The second (and in one case, third) letters of the designation indicates the aircraft's primary mission.
A | - Attack? | - never used |
B | - Bomber? | - never used |
C | - Cargo Transport | |
E | - Electronic Warfare | |
F | - Fighter | |
H | - Helicopter | |
K | - Tanker? | - never used |
O | - Observation | - discontinued |
P | - Patrol | |
R | - Reconaissance? | - never used |
S | - Antisubmarine? | - never used |
SR | - Search and Rescue | - discontinued |
T | - Trainer | |
U | - Utility? | - never used |
V | - Vertical Takeoff and Landing? | - never used |
X | - Experimental |