Rainbow Codes
Encyclopedia
The Rainbow Codes were a series of code name
s used to disguise the nature of various British
military research projects. They were mainly used from after the Second World War until 1958, when they were replaced by an alphanumeric
code system.
Each rainbow code name was constructed from a colour, plus a noun taken from a list, for example:
While most colour and noun combinations were meaningless, some were real names, although quite unrelated to the project they designated. For example, Black Maria is also a name for a police van
and Red Duster is a name for the Red Ensign
, the flag
flown by British merchant ships.
The names were mostly dropped with the end of the Ministry in 1959. Its functions were transferred to the War Office
, the Air Ministry
which handled military aviation, and the newly-created Ministry of Aviation
in charge of civil aviation. After the reorganization, projects were mostly named with randomly-selected codes comprising two letters and three digits, eg. BL755
, WE177. However, rainbow codes continue to be used with some modern systems; current examples include the Blue Vixen radar
and the Orange Reaper Electronic Support Measures system.
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
s used to disguise the nature of various British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
military research projects. They were mainly used from after the Second World War until 1958, when they were replaced by an alphanumeric
Alphanumeric
Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
code system.
History
The Ministry of Supply (MoS) initiated the idea because, during the war, the British realised that although the code-names of some German secret projects could be cryptic, they often provided useful clues as to their nature. For example, the radio navigation device known as Wotan used a single radio beam, which had already been inferred by the British because the system was named after the one-eyed god of the same name. The intention of rainbow codes was to clearly and uniquely identify a project, whilst not providing any hints or clues regarding its characteristics.Each rainbow code name was constructed from a colour, plus a noun taken from a list, for example:
- "Blue" + "Steel" = Blue Steel, a nuclear-armed stand-off missileStand-off missileStandoff missiles are missiles "which may be launched at a distance sufficient to allow attacking personnel to evade defensive fire from the target area." Typically, they are used against land- and sea-based targets in an offensive operation...
- "Green" + "Mace" = Green Mace, an anti-aircraft gun.
While most colour and noun combinations were meaningless, some were real names, although quite unrelated to the project they designated. For example, Black Maria is also a name for a police van
Police van
A police van is a type of vehicle operated by police forces. Police vans are usually employed for the transportation of prisoners inside a specially adapted cell in the vehicle, or for the rapid transportation of a number of officers to an incident.- History :Early police vans were in the form of...
and Red Duster is a name for the Red Ensign
Red Ensign
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...
, the flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
flown by British merchant ships.
The names were mostly dropped with the end of the Ministry in 1959. Its functions were transferred to the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
which handled military aviation, and the newly-created Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....
in charge of civil aviation. After the reorganization, projects were mostly named with randomly-selected codes comprising two letters and three digits, eg. BL755
BL755
BL755 is a cluster bomb. Its primary targets are armored vehicles and tanks with secondary soft target capabilities.-Design:The BL755 looks like a standard 1,000 lb general purpose bomb but with a hard "saddle" on the spine for ejector release and crutching pad loads and a distinctive large...
, WE177. However, rainbow codes continue to be used with some modern systems; current examples include the Blue Vixen radar
and the Orange Reaper Electronic Support Measures system.
Black
- Black ArrowBlack ArrowBlack Arrow, officially capitalised BLACK ARROW, was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s, it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971...
- a satellite launch vehicle derived from Blue Streak/Black Knight - Black KnightBlack Knight (rocket)Black Knight was a British launch vehicle to test and verify the design of a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak missile.The United Kingdom's first indigenous rocketry project, Black Knight was manufactured by Saunders-Roe on the Isle of Wight, had its engines tested at The Needles and was...
- a launch vehicle used to test re-entry vehicles for Blue Streak - Black Maria - fighter IFFIdentification friend or foeIn telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
interrogator - Black Prince - proposed satellite launch vehicle based on Blue Streak/Black Knight — a.k.a. Blue Star
- Black Rock - surface to surface guided missile
Blue
- Blue Anchor - X-Band CWContinuous waveA continuous wave or continuous waveform is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency; and in mathematical analysis, of infinite duration. Continuous wave is also the name given to an early method of radio transmission, in which a carrier wave is switched on and off...
target illumination radar for Bristol Bloodhound - Blue Badger - truck-mounted nuclear land mine - later renamed Violet Mist
- Blue Bishop - portable 2.5 MW nuclear-powered electrical generatorElectrical generatorIn electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
- previously Green Janet - Blue Boar - TVTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
-guided bomb - Blue Boy - VHF speech scramblingScramblerIn telecommunications, a scrambler is a device that transposes or inverts signals or otherwise encodes a message at the transmitter to make the message unintelligible at a receiver not equipped with an appropriately set descrambling device...
- Blue Bunny - ten-kiloton nuclear mine, see Blue Peacock
- Blue CatBlue catBlue Cat may refer to:* Lan Mao, the "Blue Cat" Chinese animation character.* Blue Cat Records, a record company.* 3000 Whys of Blue Cat, the Chinese animation series....
- nuclear warhead a.k.a. Tony - UK version of US W44W44The W44 was an American nuclear warhead used on the ASROC tactical anti-submarine missile system.The W44 had basic dimensions of 13.75 inches diameter and 25.3 inches length, a weight of 170 pounds, and a yield of 10 kilotons....
, a.k.a. TsetseTsetse primaryThe Tsetse was the common design nuclear fission bomb core for several Cold War designs for American nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, according to researcher Chuck Hansen.... - Blue Cedar - X bandX bandThe X band is a segment of the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of X band is rather indefinitely set at approximately 7.0 to 11.2 gigahertz . In radar engineering, the frequency range is specified...
anti-aircraft radar - Blue DanubeBlue Danube (nuclear weapon)Blue Danube was the first operational British nuclear weapon. It also went by a variety of other names, including Smallboy, the Mk.1 Atom Bomb, Special Bomb and OR.1001, a reference to the Operational Requirement it was built to fill...
- the first British nuclear weapon in service - Blue Devil - T4 optical bombsightBombsightA bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...
- drift and ground speedGround speedGround speed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the ground. Information displayed to passengers through the entertainment system often gives the aircraft groundspeed rather than airspeed....
from Green Satin - Blue Diamond - AA No7 Radar - anti aircraft radar
- Blue Diver - ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 18075 airborne low-band VHFVery high frequencyVery high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
jammerElectronic warfareElectronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
- against metric frequency radar such as Tall King - Blue DolphinBlue dolphinBlue Dolphin may refer to:* A shot glass full of water ordered from a bar as a humorous drink order* A glass of water on ice with a straw* A cocktail mixed with Rum, Blue Curaçao, Vodka, lemonade, and soda...
- a.k.a. Blue Jay Mk V for Sea VixenDe Havilland Sea VixenThe de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen was a twin boom 1950s–1960s British two-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm designed by de Havilland. Developed from an earlier first generation jet fighter, the Sea Vixen was a capable carrier-based fleet defence fighter that served into the 1970s...
- see Hawker Siddeley Red TopHawker Siddeley Red TopThe Hawker Siddeley Red Top was the third indigenous British air-to-air missile to enter service, following the de Havilland Firestreak and limited-service Fairey Fireflash.-Development:... - Blue Duck - Anti-Submarine Warfare missile, entered service as IkaraIkara (missile)The Ikara missile was an Australian ship-launched anti-submarine missile, named after an Australian Aboriginal word for "throwing stick". It launched an acoustic torpedo to a range of , allowing fast-reaction attacks against submarines at ranges that would otherwise require the launching ship to...
- Blue Envoy - surface to air missile to OR.1140
- Blue Fox - kiloton range nuclear weapon, later renamed Indigo Hammer - not to be confused with the later Blue Fox radar
- Blue FoxFerranti Blue FoxThe Ferranti Blue Fox is a British airborne radar designed and built for the Royal Navy by Ferranti Defence Systems, Edinburgh, Scotland.-Design and development:...
- airborne radar - Blue Jacket - ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 5880 airborne DopplerDoppler radarA Doppler radar is a specialized radar that makes use of the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been...
navigation radar fitted to Hawker-Siddeley Buccaneer aircraft. - Blue Jay - air-to-air missile - entered service as de Havilland Firestreak
- Blue Joker - balloon-borne Early Warning radar - a.k.a. AMESAir Ministry Experimental StationAMES or Air Ministry Experimental Station was the way of identifying RAF radar types during and after World War II*AMES Type 1, Chain Home - Early Warning*AMES Type 2, Chain Home Low - Early Warning, LOW altitude...
Type 87 - Blue Moon - see Blue Streak
- Blue Oak - AWREAtomic Weapons EstablishmentThe Atomic Weapons Establishment is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. AWE plc is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE...
Atlas 2 super-computer used for simulation of nuclear explosions - Blue Parrot - ARI 5930 I bandI bandThe I band is the range of radio frequencies from 8 GHz to 10 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. This is equal to wave lengths between 3.75 cm and 3 cm. The I band is in the SHF range of the radio spectrum....
automatic contour-following radar for Buccaneer - also known as AIRPASS II (AIRPASS=Airborne Interception Radar & Pilot's Attack Sight System) - Blue PeacockBlue PeacockBlue Peacock, renamed from Blue Bunny and originally dubbed Brown Bunny, was the codename of a British tactical nuclear weapon project in the 1950s—dubbed the chicken-powered nuclear bomb by the press....
- ten-kiloton nuclear land mine - also known as Blue Bunny and Brown Bunny; it used the Blue Danube physics package. - Blue Rapier - Red Rapier - missiles - see UB.109TUB.109TUB.109T was a British cruise missile project. It was cancelled on 30 September 1954.An identified operational requirement led to a request for designs for an unmanned bomb capable of delivering a 5,000 lb conventional warhead over 465 miles travelling at 600 mph. The specification for...
- Bue Riband - large anti-jamming radar - cancelled 1958 and supplanted by smaller version as Blue Yeoman
- Blue Rosette - short-case nuclear weapon bomb casing for reconnaissance bomber to spec R156T, including the Avro 730Avro 730|-See also:-References:CitationsBibliography* Bartlett, Christopher John. "The Long Retreat: A Short History of British Defence Policy, 1945-70". Macmillan, 1971.* Brookes, Andrew J. "V-Force: The History of Britain's Airborne Deterrent ". Jane's, 1982....
, Handley Page HP.100, English Electric P10, Vickers SP4 and various others. - Blue Saga - ARI 18105 airborne radar warning receiver (RWR)
- Blue Sapphire - astro-navigationCelestial navigationCelestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is a position fixing technique that has evolved over several thousand years to help sailors cross oceans without having to rely on estimated calculations, or dead reckoning, to know their position...
system - see also Orange Tartan - Blue Sky - see Fairey FireflashFairey FireflashFireflash was the first British air-to-air guided missile. Constructed by Fairey Aircraft, the missile utilised radar beam-riding guidance. Generally unsuccessful, it served only in small numbers.-Development:...
- Blue Silk - airborne DopplerDoppler radarA Doppler radar is a specialized radar that makes use of the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been...
navigation radar unit with lower speed range than Green Satin - Blue Slug - heavy ship-to-ship missile using Sea Slug launcher, nuclear or conventional
- Blue Star - satellite launcher - see Black Prince
- Blue Steel - an air-launched rocket propelled nuclear stand-off missile
- Blue Stone - Unit 386D ENI (Electronic Neutron Initiator) - nuclear weapon component
- Blue Streak - a medium-range ballistic missileMedium-range ballistic missileA medium-range ballistic missile , is a type of ballistic missile with medium range, this last classification depending on the standards of certain organizations. Within the U.S. Department of Defense, a medium range missile is defined by having a maximum range of between 1,000 and 3,000 km1...
- Blue Study - automatic blind bombing system for V-bombers
- Blue Sugar - air-droppable target marking radio Beacon developed by TRETelecommunications Research EstablishmentThe Telecommunications Research Establishment was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force during World War II and the years that followed. The name was...
. - Blue Vesta - a later version of the Blue Jay air to air missile
- Blue Vixen - Pulse-Doppler radarPulse-doppler radarPulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
for Sea Harrier FA2BAE Sea HarrierThe British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval VTOL/STOVL jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft, a development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It first entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1980 as the Sea Harrier FRS1 and became informally known as the "Shar"... - Blue Water - see Red Rose
- Blue Yeoman - Early Warning radar, also known as AMES Type 85, aka LinesmanLinesman/MediatorLinesman/Mediator was the dual-purpose civil and military radar network in the United Kingdom. Against a background of the Russian H-bomb and supersonic bombers Linesman was the answer to the Cold War defence policies, replacing the earlier ROTOR and Type 80 Master Radar Stations that were the...
Brown
- Brown Bunny - original, unofficial name for Blue Peacock
Green
- Green ArcherGreen Archer (radar)Green Archer, also called Radar, Field Artillery, No 8 was a widely used British mortar locating radar operating in the X band using a Foster scanner. Developed by EMI after an experimental model by the Royal Radar Establishment, it was in British service from 1962 until 1975 with the Royal...
- mortarMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
-locating radar - Green Bamboo - nuclear weapon
- Green Cheese - nuclear anti-ship missile
- Green Flash - Green Cheese's replacement
- Green Flax - SAGWAnti-aircraft warfareNATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
(Surface-to-Air Guided Weapon) - surface to air missile - see Yellow Temple - Green Garland - infrared proximity fuze for Red Top
- Green Garlic - Early Warning radar - a.k.a. AMES Type 80
- Green Ginger - surveillance radars - combined installation of AMES Type 88 & AMES Type 89
- Green Granite - nuclear weapons - Green Granite (small) & Green Granite (large)
- Green Grass - nuclear weapon
- Green Janet - portable, nuclear power plant; see Blue Bishop
- Green Hammock - low-altitude bomber, Doppler navigation
- Green Light - SAGW - surface to air missile - see Short Sea CatSea Cat missileSea Cat was a British short-range surface to air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system and was designed so that the Bofors guns could be replaced with minimum...
- Green Lizard - tube-launched SAM with variable geometry wings
- Green Mace - 5-inch rapid firing anti-aircraft gun
- Green Palm - airborne VHF voice channel jammer with 4 pre-set channels, replaced in the Vulcan B2Avro VulcanThe Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,...
by the I bandI bandThe I band is the range of radio frequencies from 8 GHz to 10 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. This is equal to wave lengths between 3.75 cm and 3 cm. The I band is in the SHF range of the radio spectrum....
jammer. - Green Satin - airborne DopplerDoppler radarA Doppler radar is a specialized radar that makes use of the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been...
navigation radar unit - Green Sparkler - advanced surface-to-air missile for the "Stage 2" program
- Green Water - pilotless interceptor/SAGW
- Green Walnut - blind bombing equipment
- Green Willow - EKCOEKCOEKCO from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924.Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plastic products; the plastics company became Lin Pac Mouldings...
AI Mk. 20 Fire Control radar - backup to AI Mk. 23 Airborne Interception radar for English Electric P.1English Electric LightningThe English Electric Lightning is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, noted for its great speed and unpainted natural metal exterior finish. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. The aircraft was renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor; Royal Air Force ...
fighter - Green Wizard - instrument for calibrating anti-aircraft guns, by measuring muzzle-velocity
Indigo
- Indigo Corkscrew - continuous wave radar, used with the Bristol Bloodhound and English Electric ThunderbirdEnglish Electric ThunderbirdThe English Electric Thunderbird was a British surface to air missile produced for the British Army. The Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges of up to thirty miles or so. AA guns were still used for lower altitude threats...
surface to air missiles - Indigo Bracket - radar jamming system
- Indigo Hammer - nuclear weapon
Jade
- Jade River - continuous wave radar, developed from Indigo Corkscrew
Orange
- Orange Crop - RacalRacalRacal Electronics plc was once the third-largest British electronics firm. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including: as voice and data recorders; point of sale terminals; laboratory instruments;...
MIR 2 ESM system for Royal Navy Lynx helicopters - Orange Harvest - S and X band warning receiver fitted to ShackletonAvro ShackletonThe Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...
s - Orange HeraldOrange Herald- Technical :Orange Herald was a fusion boosted British fission nuclear weapon, comprising a U-235 primary surrounded by lithium deuteride. 'Herald' was suitable for mounting on a missile, utilizing 117 kg of U-235...
- nuclear weapon - Orange Nell - SAGW - surface to air missile
- Orange Pippin - Ferranti, anti-aircraft, fire-control radar
- Orange Poodle - low altitude, OTHR (Over-the-Horizon) early-warning radar - abandoned
- Orange Putter - Tail Warning radar fitted to CanberraEnglish Electric CanberraThe English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
and ValiantVickers ValiantThe Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s... - Orange Reaper - Electronic Support Measures system for Royal Navy Merlin helicopters
- Orange Tartan - 'Auto-Astro' automated star navigationCelestial navigationCelestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is a position fixing technique that has evolved over several thousand years to help sailors cross oceans without having to rely on estimated calculations, or dead reckoning, to know their position...
system (day) - see also Blue Sapphire (night). - Orange William - Swingfire, anti-tank missile
- Orange Yeoman - Early Warning radar & guidance for Bristol Bloodhound SAGW - a.k.a. AMES Type 82
Pink
- Pink Hawk - early name for Fairey FireflashFairey FireflashFireflash was the first British air-to-air guided missile. Constructed by Fairey Aircraft, the missile utilised radar beam-riding guidance. Generally unsuccessful, it served only in small numbers.-Development:...
missile. As this was a "reduced" version of the Red Hawk, it is a rare example of Rainbow Codes having some implied meaning, rather than their usual purely deliberately meaningless choice.
Purple
- Purple Granite - nuclear weapon - see Green Granite
- Purple Passion - Sub-kiloton demolition mine project related to Violet Mist.
- Purple Possum - VX Nerve AgentVX (nerve agent)VX, IUPAC name O-ethyl S-[2-ethyl] methylphosphonothioate, is an extremely toxic substance whose only application is in chemical warfare as a nerve agent. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687...
.
Red
- Red Angel - air-launched anti-ship weapon or "special bomb"
- Red BeardRed Beard (nuclear weapon)Red Beard was the first British tactical nuclear weapon. It was carried by the English Electric Canberra and the V bombers of the Royal Air Force, and by the Blackburn Buccaneers, Sea Vixens and Supermarine Scimitars of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm...
- nuclear weapon - Red Cat - unknown - trialled on Canberra in 1950s
- Red DeanRed DeanThe Red Dean was an air-to-air missile developed by the United Kingdom in the 1950s but cancelled before development was complete. It was a large radar-guided missile using pulse-Doppler radar against enemy bombers.-History:...
- large air to air missile - Red Drover - airborne radar - see Avro 730Avro 730|-See also:-References:CitationsBibliography* Bartlett, Christopher John. "The Long Retreat: A Short History of British Defence Policy, 1945-70". Macmillan, 1971.* Brookes, Andrew J. "V-Force: The History of Britain's Airborne Deterrent ". Jane's, 1982....
- Red Duster - Bristol Bloodhound surface to air missile
- Red Flag - free-fall nuclear bomb - 'Improved Kiloton Bomb' - WE.177WE.177WE.177 was the last air-delivered tactical nuclear weapon of the British Armed Forces. There were three versions; WE.177A was a boosted fission weapon, while WE.177B and WE.177C were thermonuclear weapons...
- Red Flannel - experimental Q bandQ bandThe Q band of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum and ranges from 33 to 50 GHz. It sits above, and partly overlaps with, the U.S. IEEE designated Ka band . It sits below the U.S...
H2SH2S radarH2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing... - Red Hawk - large missile "downrated" to give Blue Sky
- Red Heathen - early name for Red Shoeshttp://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%202460.html
- Red Hebe - air to air missile, a replacement for Red Dean
- Red Light (ECM) - X bandX bandThe X band is a segment of the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of X band is rather indefinitely set at approximately 7.0 to 11.2 gigahertz . In radar engineering, the frequency range is specified...
jammer for V Bombers, entered service as ARI 18146 - Red Neck - airborne side-looking radar (SLAR)
- Red Rapier , Blue Rapier missiles - see UB.109TUB.109TUB.109T was a British cruise missile project. It was cancelled on 30 September 1954.An identified operational requirement led to a request for designs for an unmanned bomb capable of delivering a 5,000 lb conventional warhead over 465 miles travelling at 600 mph. The specification for...
- Red Rose - short-range, battlefield nuclear missile for the British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
- later known as Blue Water; cancelled 1962 - Red Queen - rapid fire 42 mm revolver cannonRevolver cannonA revolver cannon is a type of autocannon commonly used as an aircraft gun. It uses a cylinder with multiple chambers, like those of a revolver handgun, to speed up the loading-firing-ejection cycle. Some examples are also power-driven, to further speed the loading process, but this is by no means...
anti-aircraft gun - Red Sea (AA) - anti-aircraft gun predictor
- Red Setter - experimental side-looking radar for V bomberV bomberThe term V bomber was used for the Royal Air Force aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear strike force known officially as the V-force or Bomber Command Main Force...
s - Red Shoes - see English Electric ThunderbirdEnglish Electric ThunderbirdThe English Electric Thunderbird was a British surface to air missile produced for the British Army. The Thunderbird was primarily intended to attack higher altitude targets at ranges of up to thirty miles or so. AA guns were still used for lower altitude threats...
- Red Shrimp - ARI 18076 airborne high-band jammer fitted to VictorHandley Page VictorThe Handley Page Victor was a British jet bomber aircraft produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers that provided Britain's nuclear deterrent. The other two V-bombers were the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Some aircraft...
& VulcanAvro VulcanThe Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,... - Red SnowRed SnowRed Snow was a British thermonuclear weapon. Its physics package was apparently similar, if not identical, to that of the United States W28 nuclear warhead used in the B28 nuclear bomb and AGM-28 Hound Dog missile, with an explosive yield of approximately 1.1 megaton.The Red Snow warhead was...
- nuclear weapon physics package - Unit 10,000 fitted to Yellow Sun Mk2 and Blue Steel - Red Steer - EKCOEKCOEKCO from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924.Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plastic products; the plastics company became Lin Pac Mouldings...
ARI 5919/ARI 5952 airborne tail-warning radar - development of AI 20 Green Willow - Red Top - air to air missile a.k.a. Firestreak Mk 4
- Red Ticket - associated with AI 17 radar
- Red Tulip - phase coherent radar Moving Target Indicator (MTI)
Violet
- Violet Banner - infrared seeker for Red Top
- Violet ClubViolet ClubViolet Club was a nuclear weapon deployed by the United Kingdom during the cold war. It was Britain's first operational "high yield" weapon, and was intended to provide an emergency capability until a thermonuclear weapon could be developed from the 1956-1958 Operation Grapple thermonuclear tests...
- nuclear weapon - Violet Friend - simple ABMAnti-ballistic missileAn anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
system - Violet Mist - truck-mounted nuclear land mine - formerly Blue Badger. Used the Red Beard physics package.
- Violet Picture - UHF Homer, built by PlesseyPlesseyThe Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
- Fitted to many RAF aircraft. - Violet Vision - nuclear warhead for CorporalMGM-5 CorporalThe MGM-5 Corporal missile was the first guided weapon authorized by the United States to carry a nuclear warhead.The first nuclear-authorized unguided rocket was the MGR-1 Honest John...
missile - based on Red Beard
Yellow
- Yellow Anvil - nuclear artilleryNuclear artilleryNuclear artillery is a subset of limited-yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets...
shellShell (projectile)A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
warhead - Yellow Aster - H2S Mk 9AH2S radarH2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing...
bombing radar, fitted to VictorHandley Page VictorThe Handley Page Victor was a British jet bomber aircraft produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers that provided Britain's nuclear deterrent. The other two V-bombers were the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Some aircraft...
and ValiantVickers ValiantThe Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
aircraft - Yellow Barley - radar warning receiverRadar warning receiverRadar warning receiver systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected. The warning can then be used, manually or automatically, to evade the detected threat...
- Yellow Duckling - infra-red submarine detector
- Yellow Gate - LoralLoral CorporationLoral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname....
ESMESM-Science and technology:* Earth System Model, a highly advanced form of Global climate model* Election Stock Market* Electron Scanning Microscope* Electronic Support Measures, the military technique of tactical electronic intelligence gathering...
for E-3D Sentry and Nimrod MR.2 - Yellow Jack - Orange Pippin's radar component
- Yellow Lemon - naval aircraft, Doppler-navigation system
- Yellow River - mobile tactical control radar for Bristol Bloodhound - a.k.a. AMES Type 83
- Yellow Sand - anti-ship missile, possibly a precursor to Green Cheese
- Yellow SunYellow SunYellow Sun was the first British operational high-yield strategic nuclear weapon. The name actually refers only to the outer casing; the warhead was known as "Green Grass" and "Red Snow"...
- nuclear weapon casing - Yellow Temple - nuclear-armed SAGW development of Red Shoes
Non-Rainbow codes
Several British military related terms have a similar format to Rainbow Codes, but are not since they do not refer to classified research projects. These include:- Blue Circle - sardonic name for concrete ballast for BuccaneerBlackburn BuccaneerThe Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level subsonic strike aircraft with nuclear weapon delivery capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War...
while awaiting Blue Parrot - later also used for Tornado F.2Panavia TornadoThe Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
ballast - from the Blue CircleBlue Circle IndustriesBlue Circle Industries was a British public company manufacturing cement. It was founded in 1900, and was bought out by the French company Lafarge in 2001.-History:...
cement company - Green GoddessGreen GoddessThe Green Goddess is the colloquial name for the Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump, a fire engine used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service , and latterly by the British Armed Forces. These green-painted vehicles were built between 1953 and 1956 for the Auxiliary Fire Service...
- Colloquial name for Civil Defence fire pump - Green Porridge - RAF aircrew nickname for green-tinted H2SH2S radarH2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World War II for the Royal Air Force and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s. It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing...
bombing radar display PPIPlan position indicatorThe plan position indicator , is the most common type of radar display. The radar antenna is usually represented in the center of the display, so the distance from it and height above ground can be drawn as concentric circles...
image in VictorHandley Page VictorThe Handley Page Victor was a British jet bomber aircraft produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers that provided Britain's nuclear deterrent. The other two V-bombers were the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Some aircraft...
& VulcanAvro VulcanThe Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,... - Red ArrowsRed ArrowsThe Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton, but due to move to RAF Waddington in 2011...
- RAF display team - Red DevilsRed Devils (Parachute Regiment)The Red Devils are the Parachute Regiment's parachute display team. The team wears the distinctive maroon beret. The Red Devils are regular serving paratroopers from the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment who have volunteered to serve on the display team.The team was formed on 1 January...
- Parachute Regiment display team - Violet Fire - UltravioletUltravioletUltraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light fire detection systemFire alarm systemAn automatic fire alarm system is designed to detect the unwanted presence of fire by monitoring environmental changes associated with combustion. In general, a fire alarm system is classified as either automatically actuated, manually actuated, or both...
for ConcordeConcordeAérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
engine bays.
See also
- British military aircraft designation systemsBritish military aircraft designation systemsBritish military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.Since the end of the First World War, aircraft types in British military service have generally been known by a name British military aircraft designations are...
- Nuclear weapons and the United KingdomNuclear weapons and the United KingdomThe United Kingdom was the third country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, in October 1952. It is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the UK ratified in 1968...