United States military aircraft engine designations

The United States military aircraft engine designation system was introduced in 1926, originally for piston engines it was expanded in the 1947 to include a separate system for jet and rocket engines.
Piston engines.
A piston engine designation has three separate elements, a type prefix, a number representing engine displacement and a model number.
Some early engines had the type letter prefixed by a modification letter
Letters were used between 1926 and 1933 then suffixes were numerals with odd number for Army and later Air Force engines and even numbers for Navy engines. After 1943 the letters AN were included to indicate the engine met both Army/Air Force and Navy requirements. Some engines fitted with water-injected engines had the W added to the suffix.
For example, the Curtiss V-1150-1 is a Vee-type engine with a displacement of 1150 cubic inches and is an Army model.
Jet engines.
A jet engine designation consists of four separate elements in the format TSS-MM-NN where T is the type letter, SS is the sequence number, MM is the manufacturer designation (one or two characters), and NN is the model number:
The prefixes X for experimental and Y for service test are used.
For example, the TF39-GE-1C is a Turbofan built by General Electric and was an Air Force model, which has powered the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and the Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-414A is a turbofan built by Pratt & Whitney and was a Navy model, which has powered the Grumman F-14A Tomcat.
Rocket engines.
Have a similar system to jet engines but use three basic types:
The prefixes X for experimental and Y for service test are used.