Machine Designations and Models

SKYNET's catalog of combat units included standardized designations that took the Resistance many years to understand and decipher. Not all designations were known and even after the fall of SKYNET at the Battle of Cheyenne Mountain in 2029 AD, review of SKYNET's data still left a lot of questions unanswered as some designations were paired to technology, mainly hardware and software, that could not be accounted for.

Listed below is a partial list of standard attributes shared among 90% of SKYNET's regular production models, especially the combat units, as designated during the decades of the war.

These units were assigned a two-part production indicator known as a Unit Indicator Lead (UIL) and Unit Indicator Trail (UIT). The UIL was a four (sometimes five) digit indicator consisting of a leading design designation (usually a letter) followed by a three to four digit number identifying the unit’s Generation, Series and Version number.

The second part of the standardized production identifier, the Unit Indicator Trail, consisted of a three to four-digit model number based on model specific production standards.

Unit Indicator - Lead : Class . Generation . Series . Version. (sometimes additional indicator).

The Unit Indicator Lead could be used to quickly identify a unit and the UIL and the UIT could be found as a three to four-digit tag somewhere on any Machine encountered or as a virtual tag imbedded in the base operating system and control software.  For quick reference, combat units included the following design designations: (H) Hunter-Killer, which denoted a large-scale area pacification combat unit and (T) Terminator which denoted a smaller scale, anti-personnel, general combat-oriented unit.

The T800 Endoskeleton designation breaks down as follows:

 ·   

        T = Class – Terminator

·       8 = Generation (8th Generation)

·       0 = Series (see below)

·       0 = Version (see below)

Additional identifiers associated with standardized SKYNET unit production and seen in the UIL (generally in front of the Class designation) include:

H = Hybrid

X = eXperimental

P = Prototype

R = Recon / Scout / ELINT

The Unit Indicator - Trail (UIT) was composed of the Model callout which consisted of three or more digits composed of both letters and numbers. Generally displayed as a "Model" number, the actual digits behind the "Model" number indicated much of the unit's overall construction and makeup.  Model – (3 digits), in this example, the designation of "Model 101" indicates that the T800 Endoskeleton is (1) a Bipedal type chassis drive, (0) GCU General Combat Unit - Anti-Personnel and (1) has a single CPU controlling the design.

1 = Drive Chassis (see below)

0 = Design template (see below)

1 = Design Purpose (see below)

Notes on the UIL / UIT designation

SERIES – Each Series increment was marked by a large change in the basic operations or capabilities of the unit. All Series start at a baseline of zero (“0”) and move forward in increments of one with 0 being the base model, 1 being the first Series, 2 being the second Series, etc. Each increment represents a significant change in the design indicating marked improvement in the model.

VERSION – Each Version increment is marked by a small change in the capability of the unit, generally in the hardware or software but sometimes in the design itself … a change in version was never enough of a change to warrant a new Series to enter production.

While the Series and the Version will differ from model to model, only the Version will use additional letters to signify changes. Each Version number can have 26 sub-ratings within its level category … thus the T615D Model 102 represents a Terminator, 6th Generation, first Series, fifth Version, D level upgrade of the fifth Version, Bipedal type chassis drive, GCU General Combat Unit - Anti-Personnel, controlled by two CPUs.

Model number was broken down into three or four digits depending on the design. The model number indicated the mission design of the unit, the volitional state of the unit and the number of CPUs controlling the design.

Thus, the UIL / UIT indicator of a T800 Model 101 Endoskeleton combat unit can be broken down as follows:

      MAKE

 
        T = Terminator Class

        8 = 8th Generation

        0 = Base model

        0 = Base Version

        MODEL

        1 = Bipedal

        0 = General Combat Unit - Anti-Personnel

        1 = 1 x CPU

        Other =                 Infiltrator – Special designation tag for advanced cybernetic organism with camouflage biological symbiotic overlay.  
                                      This special designation is added at the end of the UIL - UIT \ stamp.

                        MODEL IDENTIFIERS

                   FIRST DIGIT - UIT - CHASSIS / DRIVE SYSTEM

                        0 = Stationary / Immobile

                        1 = Bipedal

                        2 = Tripedal

                        3 = Quadrapedal

                        4 = Tracked

                        5 = Wheeled

                        6 = Lift

                        7 = Aerial

                        8 = Aquatic

                        9 = Submersible

                        X = Experimental

                        SECOND DIGIT  - MISSION DESIGN

                        0        =        GCU – General Combat Unit – Anti-Personnel

                        1        =        Combat – non-specific (indeterminate)

 
2         =       Combat – specific (indeterminate)

3        =        SPU - Sector Pacification Unit - large scale general combat and anti-personnel

4        =        Combat – Anti-Terminator (found early in design, seemingly SKYNET anticipated that humans might capture, reprogram and turn its own designs back against it).

                        5        =        Logistics – Specific

                        6        =        Logistics - General

                        7         =       Service - General

                        8         =       Service – Specific

                        X        =        eXperimental

                    THIRD DIGIT - CPU

                    Indicates how many CPUs are used to control the design of the chassis and the mission parameters.  As the War drew on, SKYNET began not only producing
                    multi-function / multi-role CPUs but also highly specialized CPUs that took over very specific or even broad (but not total) aspects of the chassis design.  This allowed a combat unit to
                    operate much more efficiently.  By the middle teens, SKYNET Terminators and other combat units were being produced with two CPUs as standard and sometimes up to four CPUs.

 
                    0 = No CPU – “dumb” hardware or run by strict ROM, stick memory, or later soft pack gelmem.

                    1 – 9 = number of CPUs controlling the unit.  The highest number recorded during the War was 5 CPUs in a single design though the UIT itself listed numbers from 0 to 9.