When I meet members of foreign militaries I'm hard-pressed for an explanation as to why we have funny names for our small arms. Sure, everyone on The War Diary knows about the C6, C7, C9 etc. but when I speak to my American friends, I simply explain that our rifle is an AR15-derivative, our GPMG is the FN MAG, and our section wpn is the FN Minimi. Like the TV commercial says, "There's a lot to be said for clarity."

F/A 18 is an American designation and it means Fighter and Attack. Just because we dropped the A doesn't change its role.

We have a stand alone army which uses weapom systems suited to us and therefore is identifed by us. As long as we know what it is that is all that counts.

Ubique

I don't see that this system lacks clarity, in fact, it is much easier to remember the designations C6, C7, C8, C9 than it would be to remember and to write Colt Commando, M16A1, FN FAL, Minimi, etc.