Eli5: Why are weapons(guns, tanks, some planes) named with numbers and letters?
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In the late 19th and early 20th century, rifles and pistols would be designated by the year of their introduction. So the M1903 Springfield rifle was introduced in 1903 and the M1911 pistol was introduced in 1911. Around the U.S. entry into WW2, this practice was replaced with a sequential system, which is how we get the M1 Garand rifle and the M3 tank. And contrary to some, the letter “M” doesn’t stand for anything. Instead, MIL-STD-1468A states that all equipment produced under that standard shall have a type designation of “M”.
Outside of the U.S., the letters are usually an abbreviation for either the manufacturer or for some description of the weapon. For example, the AK in AK-47 is short for *Avtomat Kalashnikova*, which literally means “Kalashnikov’s automatic [rifle]”. Likewise, the “RPG” in RPG-7 stands for *Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot* which means “handheld anti-tank grenade launcher”.
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