Arshan Equipment & Vehicle Designations

Written by Sierra Brown.
Artwork by Sierra Brown.

A guide and listing of the various designations currently used by the Arshanov Federation for labeling equipment, vehicles, etc.

UPDATE

This article was last updated Oct. 12, 2024.

A summary blurb was added describing Arshanov pronunciation of abbreviations, and tweaks were made to the weapon abbreviations section.

See the Changelog at the bottom of the article for more details.

Within the Arshanov Federation, devices, vehicles, and other equipment used by the military or government are given specific designations consisting of a sequence of letters, a number, and a name. The letters signify the item's exact purpose, role, or function. The number notes the designation's sequence within its general group - I.e., The S/A-7 is the 7th official strike craft using this designation scheme. The name is simply a designated title used to quickly reference a specific piece of equipment.

The exact meanings of specific sequences of letters depend on the context and category. For example, the letter 'A' designates a standard select-fire assault weapon when tagged to a rifle or other weapon but refers to an attack fighter when labeled to a strike craft.

An interesting point to note about Arshanov society is they do not spell out acronyms when speaking. Instead, they pronounce them as if they're a word, filling in syllables as necessary. As an example, a rifle designated Sh/A would be spoke as 'Shaa', or a pistol designated O/P as 'Ohpah'.

Fleet Vessel

Vessel designations are used to name and identify larger Arshan space vessels, stations, and naval vessels. These designations come as a three-letter prefix that indicates the vessel's role within the fleet and the type of vessel. The first letter is always 'A' for Arshan.

Vessel Role Codes

Code	Designation
C	Command (English-based)
R	Ranger (English-based)
S	Support (English-based)

Vessel Type Codes

Code	Designation
F	Fixed-Point Vessel or Surface Facility (English-based)
N	Naval Vessel (English-based)
V	(Star) Vessel (English-based)

List of Vessel Classes

Strike Craft

Strike craft are generally defined as small vessels capable of atmospheric or space flight. Typically, these are crewed by a solo pilot, a pilot and co-pilot, or a small three to four-person crew and are intended to be launched from an airbase, station, or vessel's hanger. Strike craft letter sequences have two parts, separated by a slash, i.e., S/A. The first part signifies flight capability ('Aero,’ 'Star,’ or 'AeroSpace'), and the second designates the role and function of the craft. These designations are also used for flight group designations that field strike wings to display the intended role of that flight group.

Is it 'Star' or 'Space'?

A common disagreement between Arshans from different parts of the Federation is whether the 'S' in strike craft designations means 'Star' or 'Space'. Even official documents seem to use the terms interchangeably. The disagreements reached a point where the Internal Sector released a statement that either interpretation is acceptable.

Flight Capability Codes

Code	Designation
A	Aero
AS	AeroStar
S	Star

Role/Function Codes

Code	Designation
A	Attacker
B	Bomber
F	Fighter
G	Gunship
I	Interceptor
T	Transport

List of Strike Craft

Vehicles

Vehicles are craft and vessels intended for use on a planetary surface or within larger stations and facilities. These can range from bikes to cars to heavier vehicles such as tanks. Vehicles are a common sight among the armed ground forces of the Federation, such as Fokstrot or Alfa's Dragon Division. Vehicle prefixes operate similarly to strike craft, though with slightly different meanings.

Vehicle Capability Codes

Code	Designation
L	Land Vehicle
LA	Land Vehicle (Amphibious)
N	Naval
NS	Naval (Submersible)

Role/Function Codes

Code	Designation
A	Armored
F	Fighting Vehicle
T	Transport

List of Vehicles

Weaponry

Weaponry designations are applied to various kinds of weapons - Rifles, pistols, grenades, knives, and other more niche categories. Most weapons typically have a two-letter prefix - One designating the intended role and function, the other designating the type of weapon.

Role/Function Codes

Code	Designation
Sh	Standard/Assault Weapon Штурмовое оружие / Šturmovoe oružie
O	Personal Defense Weapon Оружие обороны / Oružie oborony

Weapon Type Codes

Code	Meaning
A	Autorifle Авторужье / Avtoružʹe
K	Carbine Карабин / Karabin
P	Pistol/Sidearm Пистолет / Pistolet
Pp	Submachine Gun Пистолет-пулемет / Pistolet-pulemet
V	Rifle Винтовка / Vintovka
D	Shotgun Дробовик / Drobovik

List of Weaponry

Changelog

Oct. 12, 2024

Show spoiler

• Added cyrillic spelling to weapon designations.
• Adjusted formatting of weapon designation blocks.
• Added blurb to summary section describing Arshanov pronunciation of abbreviation codes.

Dec. 02, 2023

Show spoiler

• Added this changelog.
• Minor formatting touchups.
• Updated introductory blurb to note the usage of numerics in designations: "The number notes the designation's sequence within its general group - I.e., The S/A-7 is the 7th official strike craft using this designation scheme."
• Added additional entries to the List of X sections.