The Department of Defense adopts a common designation system for all military aircraft. The new system is based on existing (and much simpler) Air Force designation methods. The designations for most Air Force aircraft are unchanged, but all Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard aircraft are redesignated, as the Navy’s practice of including a letter to designate manufacturers is eliminated.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
