UxS Symbol Generator

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Using these symbols in ATAK / WinTAK

The generator produces two things you can bring into the TAK ecosystem: a symbol image (SVG/PNG) and a CoT type string that extends the MIL-STD-2525 / CoT type tree with the PDE 3-57 UxS taxonomy.

1 · CoT type string format

The string extends standard CoT event types (e.g. a combat-engineer unit is a-u-G-U-C-E) with an experimental UxS branch marked by X:

a-<aff>-X-<A|G>-<class>-<platform>-<payload>-<control>

• a — atom (physical object)
• <aff> — affiliation: f friend · h hostile · n neutral · u unknown
• X — experimental PDE 3-57 UxS extension
• A air (UAS) / G ground (UGS)
• <class> — 1a 1b 1c 2 3
• <platform> <payload> <control> — one letter each (see legend below the string)
• APP-06E payloads append the 6-digit entity code

Example: a-u-X-A-1a-o-c-p = unknown UAS, class 1A, orbiter, camera payload, piloted.

2 · Build an ATAK icon set (one click)

1. Add each symbol you want to the Gallery (“★ Save to gallery”).
2. Press “⬇ ATAK iconset (.zip)” in the gallery header. This produces a ready-to-import iconset.zip containing one PNG per saved symbol (each named after its CoT string, 256 px, transparent background) plus a valid iconset.xml manifest. Symbols are grouped into UAS (Air) and UGS (Ground) palettes.
3. Import into TAK — ATAK: Settings → Display → Icon & Toolbar → Import icon set (or drop the zip in atak/iconsets/); WinTAK: Settings → Icon Set Manager → Import.
4. The symbols appear in the point-dropper palette under those groups; the CoT string is kept in each icon’s name so it stays traceable to the PDE 3-57 taxonomy.

Note: the exact import path varies by TAK version. Placed icons carry an iconsetpath of uid/group/filename in their CoT detail.