The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects from after the Second World War until 1958 when they were replaced by an alphanumeric code system. The Ministry of Supply (MoS) initiated the idea since during the war some German secret projects could be inferred from their code names; for example, that a radio navigation device "Wotan" used a single beam because the Germanic god Wotan was one-eyed. Each code name was constructed from a colour of the rainbow plus a noun taken from a list; for example:
- "Blue" + "Steel" = Blue Steel, a nuclear-armed stand-off missile
- "Green" + "Mace" = Green Mace, an anti-aircraft gun.
The names were dropped with the end of the MoS, and their functions were handed over to the Ministry of Defence which started using randomly-selected codes comprising of two letters and three digits, eg. BL755 or WE177.
Contents |
Projects
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Black
- Black Arrow - a satellite launch vehicle derived from Blue Streak/Black Knight
- Black Knight - a re-entry vehicle for Blue Streak
- Black Maria - fighter IFF 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 CW target illumination radar for Bristol Bloodhound
- Blue Badger - see Violet Mist
- Blue Bishop - portable 2.5 MW nuclear generator - previously Green Janet
- Blue Boar - TV-guided bomb [1][2]
- Blue Boy - VHF speech scrambling
- Blue Bunny - see Blue Peacock
- Blue Cat - nuclear warhead a.k.a. Tony - UK version of US W44, a.k.a. Tsetse
- Blue Cedar - X-Band anti-aircraft radar
- Blue Circle - spoof name for concrete ballast for Buccaneer while awaiting Blue Parrot - later also used for Tornado F.2 ballast - from Blue Circle
- Blue Danube - nuclear weapon
- Blue Devil - optical bombsight
- Blue Dolphin - aka Blue Jay Mk V - see Hawker Siddeley Red Top
- Blue Diver - ARI 18075 airborne low-band jammer
- Blue Envoy - surface to air missile to OR.1140
- Blue Fox - see Indigo Hammer - not to be confused with the later Blue Fox radar
- Blue Jay - see de Havilland Firestreak
- Blue Joker - balloon-borne Early Warning radar - a.k.a. AMES Type 87
- Blue Moon - see Blue Streak
- Blue Parrot - ARI 5390 I-Band automatic contour-following radar for Buccaneer - a.k.a AIRPASS II *
- Blue Peacock - buried nuclear weapon (land mine)
- Blue Rapier, Red Rapier missiles - see UB.109T
- Blue Rosette - short-cased nuclear weapon for Avro 730
- Blue Saga - ARI 18105 airborne radar warning receiver (RWR)
- Blue Sapphire - astro-navigation system
- Blue Sky - see Fairey Fireflash
- Blue Silk - airborne Doppler navigation radar unit with lower speed range than Green Satin
- Blue Slug - nuclear ship-to-ship missile using Sea Slug launcher
- Blue Star - see Black Prince
- Blue Steel - an air-launched missile
- Blue Stone - electronic neutron initiator (nuclear weapon component)
- Blue Streak - a medium-range ballistic missile
- Blue Vesta - air to air missile
- Blue Water - air to surface missile
- Blue Yeoman - Early Warning radar - a.k.a. AMES Type 85
- Brown Bunny - see Blue Peacock
*AIRPASS = Airborne Interception Radar & Pilot's Attack Sight System
Green
- Green Bamboo - nuclear weapon
- Green Cheese - nuclear anti-ship missile
- Green Flax - SAGW (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 Janet - see Blue Bishop
- Green Light - SAGW - surface to air missile - see Short Sea Cat
- Green Lizard - tube-launched SAM with variable geometry wings
- Green Mace - anti-aircraft gun
- Green Palm - airborne voice channel jammer
- Green Satin - airborne Doppler navigation radar unit
- Green Water - pilotless interceptor/SAGW
Indigo
- Indigo Hammer - nuclear warhead - small fission warhead/primary for SAGW missiles
Orange
- Orange Crop - Racal MIR 2 ESM system for Royal Navy Lynx helicopters
- Orange Harvest - S and X band warning receiver fitter to Shackletons
- Orange Herald - nuclear weapon
- Orange Nell - SAGW - surface to air missile
- Orange Putter - Tail Warning radar fitted to Canberra and Valiant
- Orange William - see Swingfire
- Orange Yeoman - Early Warning radar & guidance for Bristol Bloodhound SAGW - a.k.a. AMES Type 82
Purple
- Purple Granite - nuclear weapon - see Green Granite
- Purple Passion - Sub-kiloton demolition mine project related to Violet Mist.
Red
- Red Angel - air-launched anti-ship weapon or "special bomb"[1]
- Red Beard - nuclear weapon
- Red Dean - large air to air missile
- Red Drover - airborne radar - see Avro 730
- Red Duster - see Bristol Bloodhound
- Red Hawk - large missile "downrated" to give Blue Sky
- Red Hebe - air to air missile, a replacement for Red Dean
- Red Neck - airborne side-looking radar
- Red Rapier, Blue Rapier missiles - see UB.109T
- Red Shoes - see English Electric Thunderbird
- Red Shrimp - ARI 18076 airborne high-band jammer
- Red Snow - nuclear weapon warhead
- Red Steer - ARI 5919 airborne tail-warning radar
- Red Top - air to air missile
Violet
- Violet Banner - infrared seeker for Red Top
- Violet Club - nuclear weapon
- Violet Friend - simple ABM system
- Violet Mist - truck-mounted nuclear landmine - formerly Blue Badger
- Violet Vision - nuclear warhead for Corporal missile - based on Red Beard
Yellow
- Yellow Anvil - nuclear artillery shell warhead
- Yellow River - mobile tactical control radar for Bristol Bloodhound - a.k.a. AMES Type 83
- Yellow Sun - nuclear weapon
- Yellow Temple - nuclear-armed SAGW development of Red Shoes
References
- ^ British Secret Projects: Jet Bombers Since 1949 Tony Buttler Midland Publishing 2003
