Black •
Black Arrow – satellite launch vehicle derived from
Blue Streak/
Black Knight •
Black Knight – launch vehicle used to test re-entry vehicles 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 – a.k.a. AMES Type 86 •
Blue Badger – truck-mounted
nuclear land mine – later renamed
Violet Mist •
Blue Bishop – portable 2.5
MW nuclear-powered
electrical generator – previously
Green Janet •
Blue Boar –
TV-guided bomb •
Blue Boy –
VHF speech
scrambling •
Blue Bunny – ten-kiloton nuclear mine; see
Blue Peacock • Blue Cat – nuclear warhead, a.k.a.
Tony – UK version of US
W44, a.k.a.
Tsetse •
Blue Cedar – AA No. 3 Mk. 7 mobile
anti-aircraft radar • Blue Circle – joke name for cement ballast used in place of a radar in the
Tornado F.2 •
Blue Danube – the first British nuclear weapon in service •
Blue Devil – T4 optical
bombsight – drift and
ground speed from
Green Satin •
Blue Diamond – AA No. 7 anti-aircraft radar •
Blue Diver – ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 18075 airborne low-band
VHF jammer – against metric frequency radar such as Tall King – fitted to
Victor and
Vulcan • Blue Dolphin –
Blue Jay Mk V for
Sea Vixen – see
Hawker Siddeley Red Top •
Blue Duck – anti-submarine warfare missile, entered service as
Ikara •
Blue Envoy –
surface-to-air missile to OR.1140, replaced Green Sparker as "Stage 2" SAM •
Blue Fox – kiloton-range nuclear weapon, later renamed Indigo Hammer – not to be confused with the later Blue Fox radar •
Blue Fox – airborne radar •
Blue Jacket – ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 5880 airborne
Doppler 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 – possibly also known as
AMES Type 87 • Blue Kestrel – search radar • Blue Label –
AMES Type 84 radar • Blue Lagoon – infra-red air-to-air detector • Blue Mercury – Centurion Crocodile flamethrower tank •
Blue Moon – nuclear-armed cruise missile project, replaced by
Blue Streak • Blue Oak –
AWRE Atlas 2 super-computer used for simulation of nuclear explosions • Blue Orchid – Marconi doppler navigation equipment for helicopters •
Blue Parrot – ARI 5930
I band automatic contour-following radar for Buccaneer – also known as AIRPASS II (acronym for Airborne Interception Radar & Pilot's Attack Sight System) •
Blue Peacock – ten-kiloton
nuclear land mine – also known as
Blue Bunny and
Brown Bunny; it used the
Blue Danube physics package • Blue Perseus – flamethrower kit for the Centurion Crocodile tank • Blue Ranger – delivery of Blue Steel to Australia •
Blue Rapier –
Red Rapier – missiles – see
UB.109T •
Blue Riband – large jamming-resistant radar. Cancelled 1958 and replaced by a smaller version as Blue Yeoman •
Blue Rosette – short-case nuclear weapon bomb casing for reconnaissance bomber to spec R156T, including the
Avro 730,
Handley Page HP.100,
English Electric P10,
Vickers SP4 and others •
Blue Saga – ARI 18105 airborne radar warning receiver (RWR) – fitted to
Victor and
Vulcan •
Blue Sapphire –
astro-navigation system – see also Orange Tartan • Blue Shadow – navigation equipment for Canberra B.16, developed as Yellow Aster • Blue Shield – see
Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slug •
Blue Silk – airborne
Doppler navigation radar unit with lower speed range than
Green Satin •
Blue Sky – see
Fairey Fireflash •
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 missile •
Blue Study – automatic blind bombing system for V-bombers •
Blue Sugar – air-droppable target marking radio beacon developed by
TRE •
Blue Vesta – later version of the
Blue Jay air-to-air missile •
Blue Vixen –
pulse-Doppler radar for
Sea Harrier FA2 •
Blue Warrior (EW) VHF/UHF Jammer – countermeasure to use of radar AA shells •
Blue Water – nuclear-armed tactical surface-to-surface missile intended for
Royal Artillery in West Germany; also see
Red Rose •
Blue Yeoman – early warning radar, also known as
AMES Type 85, a component
Linesman; name created from the "Blue" of Blue Riband and the Yeoman of Orange Yeoman. Potentially non-official name.
Brown •
Brown Bunny – original, unofficial name for
Blue Peacock Green • Green Apple – related to
Window for measuring drift at sea •
Green Archer –
mortar-locating radar • Green Bacon – experimental anti-aircraft radar for Bofors units •
Green Bamboo – "hybrid" nuclear weapon design similar to Soviet
RDS-6s • Green Bottle – 1944 device for homing on U-boat radio signals (ARI.5574) •
Green Cheese – nuclear anti-ship missile •
Green Flash –
Green Cheese's replacement •
Green Flax – surface-to-air guided weapon (
SAGW) or surface-to-air missile (SAM); see
Yellow Temple •
Green Garland – infrared proximity fuze for
Red Top •
Green Garlic – early warning radar, also known as the AMES Type 80 •
Green Ginger – surveillance radars – combined installation of AMES Type 88 and AMES Type 89 •
Green Granite – thermonuclear warheads: Green Granite (small) and Green Granite (large), both tested at
Operation Grapple •
Green Grass – nuclear warhead for
Violet Club and
Yellow Sun Mark 1 bombs •
Green Hammock – low-altitude bomber, Doppler navigation •
Green Janet – portable, nuclear power plant; see
Blue Bishop •
Green Light – SAGW or SAM – see
Short Sea Cat •
Green Lizard – tube-launched SAM with variable geometry wings •
Green Mace – 5-inch rapid firing anti-aircraft gun • Green Minnow – radiometer imager •
Green Palm – ARI 18074 airborne
VHF voice channel jammer with four pre-set channels, replaced in the
Vulcan B2 by the
I band jammer • Green Salad – ARI 18044 wide-band VHF Homing equipment for the
Avro Shackleton •
Green Satin – ARI 5851 airborne
Doppler navigation radar unit •
Green Sparkler – advanced SAM for the "Stage 2" program, became
Blue Envoy •
Green Thistle – infra-red homing system based on the German wartime •
Green Walnut – blind bombing equipment •
Green Water – pilotless interceptor/SAGW •
Green Willow –
EKCO AI Mk. 20 Fire Control radar, backup to ARI 5897 AI Mk. 23 Airborne Interception radar for the
English Electric P.1 fighter •
Green Wizard – instrument for calibrating anti-aircraft guns by measuring their muzzle velocity
Indigo •
Indigo Bracket – S-band radar jamming system •
Indigo Corkscrew –
continuous wave radar, used with the
Bristol Bloodhound and
English Electric Thunderbird SAMs •
Indigo Hammer, formerly Blue Fox – nuclear weapon
Jade •
Jade River –
continuous wave radar, developed from
Indigo Corkscrew Orange • Orange Blossom – probably a deliberate mis-identification of the Orange Crop pods fitted to 1312 Flight Hercules aircraft, possibly pod-mounted electronic support measures used on the Hercules • Orange Cocktail – experimental homing radar weapon from the 1950s •
Orange Crop –
Racal MIR 2
ESM system for Royal Navy
Lynx and Royal Navy
Sea King helicopters (HAS.5 onwards but not Mk 4 "Junglies", who had the
Racal Prophet lightweight RWR fitted to some, or to the Royal Navy SAR) and some Royal Air Force Hercules aircraft •
Orange Harvest – S and X band warning receiver fitted to
Shackletons •
Orange Herald – large boosted fission nuclear warhead, tested at
Operation Grapple in 1957 •
Orange Nell – short-range surface-to-air missile (SAGW) •
Orange Pippin – Ferranti, anti-aircraft, fire-control radar •
Orange Poodle – low altitude, OTHR (Over-the-Horizon) early-warning radar – abandoned •
Orange Putter – ARI 5800 airborne passive radar warning receiver tuned to Soviet AI radars and fitted to
Canberra and
Valiant •
Orange Reaper –
Racal "Kestrel"
ESM system for Royal Navy
Merlin helicopters •
Orange Tartan – 'Auto-Astro' automated
star navigation system (day) – see also Blue Sapphire (night) • Orange Toffee – radar for
Blue Envoy •
Orange William – heavy anti-tank missile, canceled, later replaced by
Swingfire •
Orange Yeoman – early warning radar and guidance for Bristol Bloodhound SAGW – a.k.a.
AMES Type 82 Pink •
Pink Hawk – early name for
Fairey Fireflash missile. As this was a "watered down" version of the
Red Hawk, and thus pink, it is an 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 agent Red • Red Achilles – flamethrower kit for the CT 25 armoured carrier •
Red Angel – air-launched anti-ship weapon or "special bomb" • Red Bacchus – mobile mixing plant for Red Vulcan flamethrower fuel •
Red Beard – nuclear weapon • Red Biddy – infantry platoon anti-tank missile, cancelled 1953 • Red Brick – experimental continuous-wave target illuminating radar •
Red Cabbage – naval radar •
Red Cheeks – inertially guided bomb •
Red Hebe – air-to-air missile, a replacement for
Red Dean • Red Hermes – FV3702 armoured fuel trailer for flamethrower tanks • Red Indian – analogue anti-aircraft fire control computer for Bofors L/70 gun. •
Red King – two-barrel
revolver cannon, developed alongside Red Queen. The name is likely not random, but instead a reference to its
Oerlikon factory designation, RK, for Revolver Kanone. •
Red Light –
X band jammer for V Bombers, entered service as ARI 18146 •
Red Neck – airborne side-looking radar (SLAR), tested on the
Victor, a 40 foot long aerial under each wing. Flexing in flight corrupted the resolution. Cancelled 1962. • Red Planet – infantry platoon anti-tank missile •
Red Queen – rapid fire 42 mm
revolver cannon anti-aircraft gun •
Red Rapier, Blue Rapier missiles – see
UB.109T •
Red Rose – short-range, battlefield nuclear missile for the
British Army –
English Electric – later known as
Blue Water; cancelled 1962 •
Red Sea (AA) – the AA predictor designed for use with the
Green Mace automatic AA gun •
Red Setter – experimental side-looking radar for
V bombers •
Red Shoes – see
English Electric Thunderbird •
Red Shrimp – ARI 18076 airborne high-band jammer fitted to
Victor and
Vulcan •
Red Snow – nuclear weapon
physics package – fitted to
Yellow Sun Mk2 and
Blue Steel •
Red Steer –
EKCO ARI 5919/ARI 5952 airborne
tail warning radar – development of AI 20
Green Willow – fitted to
Victor and
Vulcan. The name likely refers to Jerry Steer at the RRE •
Red Ticket – associated with AI 17 radar •
Red Top – air-to-air missile developed from the
Firestreak Mk 4 •
Red Tulip – phase coherent radar Moving Target Indicator (MTI) • Red Vulcan – flamethrower fuel mixture
Violet •
Violet Banner –
infrared seeker for
Red Top •
Violet Club – nuclear weapon •
Violet Friend – simple
ABM system ordered under AST.1135 •
Violet Mist – truck-mounted
nuclear land mine – formerly
Blue Badger. Used the
Red Beard physics package •
Violet Picture – UHF Homer, built by
Plessey – Fitted to many RAF aircraft •
Violet Vision – nuclear warhead for
Corporal missile – based on
Red Beard Yellow •
Yellow Anvil –
nuclear artillery shell warhead •
Yellow Aster –
H2S Mk 9A bombing radar, fitted to
V bombers •
Yellow Barley –
radar warning receiver •
Yellow Duckling – infra-red submarine detector •
Yellow Feather – missile seeker • Yellow Fever – fire control system for the Bofors L/70 anti-aircraft gun, comprising a Blue Diamond radar and a Red Indian analogue computer •
Yellow Gate –
Loral ESM for
E-3D Sentry and
Nimrod MR.2 •
Yellow Jack –
Orange Pippin's radar component •
Yellow Lemon – Doppler-navigation system for naval aircraft. Valve-based precursor to the transistorised
Blue Jacket. •
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 Sun – nuclear weapon casing •
Yellow Temple – nuclear-armed SAGW development of
Red Shoes •
Yellow Tiger – Target illuminating radar used with the Thunderbird missile • Yellow Veil – ALQ-167 pod for Royal Navy Lynx ==Non-Rainbow codes==