During the Cold War, it was common for the West to know (or suspect) that
an aircraft existed in the Soviet inventory, but not know its correct
designation.  Even when the USSR released publicity pictures of their
aircraft (or allowed Western journalists to film them flying past during
displays), the aircraft's name was usually never mentioned.  Because of
this, a system of codenames was invented by NATO.

Each type was given a name starting with "B" for bombers, "C" for cargo or
passenger transports, "F" for fighters, "H" for helicopters, or "M" for
miscellaneous (everything else).  Fixed-wing aircraft received names with
one syllable if they were propeller-driven, two syllables if they were jets
(there is no rule for the number of syllables in a helicopter's codename).
Variants were indicated by suffix letters (e.g.  the fourth version of the
MiG-25 "Foxbat" to be identified became "Foxbat-D").

With the modern opening up of the Russian military, it's becoming more
common to refer to Russian aircraft by their real designations (now better
known in the West).  Some recent types haven't been given codenames, and
the system seems likely to disappear altogether in the near future.

Four foreign-built aircraft have been given codenames:  The Czech-built
Aero L-29 Delfin ("Maya"), at one time the standard Warsaw Pact jet trainer
(oddly, its successor, the L-39 Albatros, was never assigned a codename);
the US-built North American B-25 Mitchell ("Bank"), used by the Soviet air
forces for a while after World War II; and the Chinese J-8 ("Finback") and
Q-5 ("Fantan") (see section H.11).

    Antonov
        An-2/3            = "Colt"
        An-8              = "Camp"
        An-10             = "Cat"
        An-12             = "Cub"
        An-14             = "Clod"
        An-22             = "Cock"
        An-24             = "Coke"
        An-26             = "Curl"
        An-28             = "Cash"
        An-30             = "Clank"
        An-32             = "Cline"
        An-72/74          = "Coaler"
        An-74AEW          = "Madcap"
        An-124            = "Condor"
        An-225            = "Cossack"
    Beriev
        Be-2              = "Mote"
        Be-6              = "Madge"
        Be-8              = "Mole"
        Be-10             = "Mallow"
        Be-12             = "Mail"
        Be-30             = "Cuff"
        Be-40/42/44       = "Mermaid"
    Chetverikov
        Che-2             = "Mug"
    Ilyushin
        Il-2              = "Bark"
        Il-4              = "Bob"
        Il-10             = "Beast"
        Il-12             = "Coach"
        Il-14             = "Crate"
        Il-18/20/22       = "Coot"
        Il-28             = "Beagle"
        Il-28U            = "Mascot"
        Il-38             = "May"
        Il-40             = "Brawny"
        Il-54             = "Blowlamp"
        Il-62             = "Classic"
        Il-76             = "Candid"
        Il-78             = "Midas"
        Il-86             = "Camber"
    Ilyushin/Beriev
        A-50              = "Mainstay"
    Kamov
        Ka-10             = "Hat"
        Ka-15             = "Hen"
        Ka-18             = "Hog"
        Ka-20             = "Harp"
        Ka-22             = "Hoop"
        Ka-25             = "Hormone"
        Ka-26/126/128/226 = "Hoodlum"
        Ka-27/28/29/32    = "Helix"
        Ka-50             = "Hokum"
    Lavochkin
        La-7              = "Fin"
        La-9              = "Fritz"
        La-11             = "Fang"
        La-15             = "Fantail"
    Lisunov
        Li-2              = "Cab"
    Mikoyan-Gurevich
        MiG-9             = "Fargo"
        MiG-15            = "Fagot"
        MiG-15U           = "Midget"
        MiG-17            = "Fresco"
        MiG-19            = "Farmer"
        MiG-21            = "Fishbed"
        MiG-21U           = "Mongol"
        MiG-23/27         = "Flogger"
        MiG-23-01         = "Faithless"
        MiG-25            = "Foxbat"
        MiG-29/30/33      = "Fulcrum"
        MiG-31            = "Foxhound"
        Ye-2A             = "Faceplate"
        Ye-152A           = "Flipper"
    Mil
        Mi-1              = "Hare"
        Mi-2              = "Hoplite"
        Mi-4              = "Hound"
        Mi-6/22           = "Hook"
        Mi-8/9/17/171     = "Hip"
        Mi-10             = "Harke"
        Mi-12             = "Homer"
        Mi-14             = "Haze"
        Mi-24/25/35       = "Hind"
        Mi-26             = "Halo"
        Mi-28             = "Havoc"
        Mi-34             = "Hermit"
    Myasishchyev
        M-3/4             = "Bison"
        M-17/55           = "Mystic"
        M-50/52           = "Bounder"
    Petlyakov
        Pe-2              = "Buck"
    Polikarpov
        Po-2              = "Mule"
    Sukhoi
        Su-7/17/20/22     = "Fitter"
        Su-7U             = "Moujik"
        Su-9/11           = "Fishpot"
        Su-11U            = "Maiden"
        Su-15             = "Flagon"
        Su-24             = "Fencer"
        Su-25/28          = "Frogfoot"
        Su-27/30/33/34/35 = "Flanker"
    Tupolev
        Tu-2/6            = "Bat"
        Tu-4/80           = "Bull"
        Tu-10             = "Frosty"
        Tu-14/89          = "Bosun"
        Tu-16             = "Badger"
        Tu-20/95/142      = "Bear"
        Tu-22             = "Blinder"
        Tu-22M            = "Backfire"
        Tu-70             = "Cart"
        Tu-82             = "Butcher"
        Tu-85             = "Barge"
        Tu-91             = "Boot"
        Tu-98             = "Backfin"
        Tu-104            = "Camel"
        Tu-110            = "Cooker"
        Tu-114            = "Cleat"
        Tu-124            = "Cookpot"
        Tu-126            = "Moss"
        Tu-128            = "Fiddler"
        Tu-134            = "Crusty"
        Tu-144            = "Charger"
        Tu-154            = "Careless"
        Tu-160            = "Blackjack"
    Yakovlev
        Yak-6/8           = "Crib"
        Yak-7U            = "Mark"
        Yak-9             = "Frank"
        Yak-10            = "Crow"
        Yak-11            = "Moose"
        Yak-12            = "Creek"
        Yak-14            = "Mare"
        Yak-15/17         = "Feather"
        Yak-16            = "Cork"
        Yak-17U           = "Magnet"
        Yak-18            = "Max"
        Yak-23            = "Flora"
        Yak-24            = "Horse"
        Yak-25/27         = "Flashlight"
        Yak-25RV          = "Mandrake"
        Yak-27R           = "Mangrove"
        Yak-28            = "Brewer"
        Yak-28P           = "Firebar"
        Yak-28U           = "Maestro"
        Yak-30            = "Magnum"
        Yak-32            = "Mantis"
        Yak-36            = "Freehand"
        Yak-38            = "Forger"
        Yak-40            = "Codling"
        Yak-41/141        = "Freestyle"
        Yak-42            = "Clobber"