Shop for an A-2 and the numbers appear straight away: 18775, 23380, 16159. They are not model names. They are the contract numbers under which the US Army's air arm ordered the jackets. Different contract, different factory and different details - so the number changes how the jacket looks. The numbers do not run in date order: 16159 (1940), then 23380 (1941), then 18775 (1942).
18775 (May 1942) - square pockets and a mustard lining
42-18775-P, ordered by the USAAF in May 1942, 50,000 jackets in total and one of the later A-2 contracts. It is known for square-cornered pockets, a mustard lining, and dark brown leather against brick-red wool ribbing.
- A-2 18775, Mocha Brown Horsehide - thick tea-core horsehide that gains shine with wear
- A-2 42-18775, Goatskin - our own Laidlaw specialty goatskin developed in 2025: a big vintage grain, and softer than horsehide
23380 (December 1941) - a snap-down shirt collar
Contract 23380, awarded in December 1941. The tells are the snap-down shirt collar and the flapped pockets. Ours is recut short for Japanese and Asian builds, in thick horsehide dyed dark brown right through the core.
- A-2 23380, Horsehide - tea-core and black
16159 (October 1940) - name plate and rank patch
W535AC 16159, finished the way it left the base: a chest name plate, a rank patch on the shoulder and Army Air Forces insignia on the sleeve. Thick, supple horsehide with the shading of a near-black seal.
- A-2 W535AC 16159, Horsehide - amber brown and seal black
Or choose by the leather
Choosing by contract is the purist route, but the leather decides how it feels to wear.
- Horsehide - thick and dense, and it builds a shine. Available across 18775, 23380 and 16159
- Goatskin - light and supple, easy over a long day. Our short A-2 in tea-core goatskin is lined in rayon
On tea-core itself, see what tea-core is.
An A-2 is not a G-1
They get shelved together, but the A-2 is Army Air Forces and the G-1 is Naval Aviation. The quickest tell is the collar: the G-1 has a fur one. Put our G-1 with a fur collar in tea-core goatskin beside an A-2 and it is obvious.
The rest are in Flight Jackets, and the wider family tree is in the designations guide.