by Tom Clancy
LPI/LPD Low Probability of Interception/Low Probability of Detection. What you want in your combat electronic systems.
LZ Landing Zone. Designated area for tactical landing of gliders or helicopters.
M1 Abrams U.S. Main Battle Tank since 1981. First mass-produced tank with a gas turbine engine. The Al variant has heavier armor and a 120mm gun, while the A2 has been equipped with digital control, monitoring, and communications gear.
M9 Beretta 9mm automatic pistol, standard handgun of U.S. Armed Forces.
M16A2 5.56mm automatic rifle, standard U.S. Army infantry weapon.
M551 Sheridan Sheridan light tank. Over 1,500 produced 1965-70. Complex 152mm gun/missile launcher plagued by problems.
Maverick AGM-65 family of air-to-surface missiles, produced since 1971 by Hughes and Raytheon with a variety of guidance and warhead configurations.
MBT Main Battle Tank. A tracked, heavily armored vehicle mounting a large-caliber gun in a rotating turret.
MFD Multi-Function Display. A small video monitor or flat panel display on an aircraft control panel that allows the operator to display and manipulate different kinds of sensor information, status indications, warnings, and system diagnostic data.
MID Mechanized Infantry Division. A “heavy” division equipped with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery.
MIL-STD-1553 U.S. Military Standard that defines cable specifications, connectors and data formats for a digital data-bus, or high-speed network for aircraft, naval or ground-based electronic systems. One of the most successful standards in aviation history.
MILES Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System. Realistic but safe simulation used in Army field training exercises. Coded pulsed lasers are fitted to weapons; vehicles and personnel are rigged with laser detectors to register hits.
Mk. 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, used by heavy weapons units, also mounted on vehicles and combat vessels.
MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System. A twelve-round 227mm artillery rocket system mounted on a tracked armored carrier. Nicknamed “Steel Rain.” A truck-mounted six-round launcher is under development for light forces.
MOS Military Occupational Specialty. Alphanumeric code used to designate the primary “job” of enlisted personnel. The infantry MOS is 11B, pronounced “eleven-bravo.”
MOPP Mission Oriented Protective Posture. Military term for wearing nuclear, biological, and chemical protective gear, including gas masks. There are four levels of protection, depending on the immediacy of the threat. MOPP-IV is the highest.
MPF Maritime Prepositioning Force.
MPS Maritime Prepositioning Ship.
MPSRON Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron.
MRC Major Regional Contingency. Current Pentagon euphemism for small war or crisis requiring intervention of U.S. military forces as directed by the President.
MRE Meals, Ready to Eat. Military field ration in individual serving packs. Eaten by personnel in the field until regular dining facilities can be deployed. Humorously known as “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.”
MSC Military Sealift Command. Navy component of U.S. Transportation Command, responsible for operating, maintaining, or chartering shipping to transport military personnel and equipment.
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An alliance of sixteen nations that has preserved peace in Europe since 1949. NATO agreements standardize the specifications for a wide variety of ammunition types.
Nautical mile 6,076 feet. Not to be confused with Statute Mile, which is 5,280 feet.
NBC Nuclear, Biological, Chemical. General term for weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear bombs or weapons designed to disperse radioactive material, toxic gases, liquids or powders, infectious microorganisms, or biological toxins. Forbidden by many nations and treaties.
NCO Noncommissioned Officer. Includes ranks ranging from E-3 (sergeant) to E-9 (command sergeant major). NCOs are enlisted personnel with supervisory or technical responsibilities.
NEO Noncombatant Evacuation Operations.
NRO National Reconnaissance Office. Formerly super-secret intelligence agency established in late 1950s within the Department of Defense, but not officially acknowledged to exist until 1990s. Responsible for procurement, operation, and management of various reconnaissance satellite systems.
NVG Night Vision Goggles.
O/C Observer/Controllers. The “referees” in military exercises.
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Army Kiowa Warrior light scout and attack helicopter.
O&M Operations and Maintenance. A major budget category for most military units.
OOTW Operations Other Than War. Military jargon for peacekeeping, humanitarian relief and similar adventures.
OPFOR Opposing Force. Units designated to play the enemy in military exercises. Usually depicted in red on maps.
Optempo Operational Tempo. Subjective measure of the intensity of military operations. In combat high optempo can overwhelm the enemy’s ability to respond, at the risk of burning out your own forces. In peacetime a high optempo can adversely affect morale and readiness.
Ordnance Weapons, ammunition, mines or other consumable armament.
PAA Primary Aircraft Authorized. The number of planes allocated to a unit for the performance of its operational mission. PAA is the basis for budgeting manpower, support equipment and flying hours.
PAO Public Affairs Officer. Military staff officer responsible for media relations, coordination with civil authorities, VIP escort duties, and similar chores.
Patriot Army long-range surface-to-air missile system. Requires a complex array of radar and fire-control vans along with four-round trailer-mounted launchers. Took almost thirty years to develop. Limited antiballistic missile capability, greatly improved in new PAC-3 version. Built by Raytheon and Loral. Sold to Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Kuwait.
Paveway Generic term for a family of laser-guided bombs produced by Texas Instruments Corporation.
PGM Precision-Guided Munition. Commonly called a “smart bomb,” any weapon that uses electronic, electro-optical, inertial or other advanced forms of terminal guidance to achieve a very high probability of hitting its target.
Platoon Military unit consisting of several squads, typically commanded by a lieutenant.
PLF Parachute Landing Fall. One of several tumbling exercises designed to allow a jumper to land safely on various types of terrain.
POMCUS Prepositioning of Material Configured in Unit Sets. A logistic innovation developed for U.S. forces in Europe, allowing U.S.-based units to fly in without equipment and rapidly pick up vehicles, weapons, and supplies from depots.
PT Physical Training. In the Airborne, much of this is running, but may include other exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups.
Pylon A structure attached to the wing or fuselage of an aircraft that supports an engine, fuel tank, weapon, or external pod. The pylon itself may be removable, in which case it is attached to a “hard point” that provides a mechanical and electrical interface.
R&D Research and Development. A form of taxpayer-funded guaranteed employment for engineers.
RAH-66 Comanche low-observable scout helicopter with advanced sensors and datalinks. A key system for the Army’s vision of the future digitized battlefield, Comanche is schedule to enter service around 2006.
RAM Radar Absorbing Material. Metal or metal-oxide particles or fibers embedded in synthetic resin applied as a coating or surface treatment on radar-reflective areas of a vehicle in order to reduce its radar cross section.
Redeye First-generation man-portable infrared-homing SAM built by General Dynamics. Introduced in 1972. Now considered obsolete.
Regiment Military unit consisting of several battalions or squadrons. The U.S. Army has only a few organized regiments, but retains regimental designations for all combat battalions, mainly for historical reasons.
ROE Rules of Engagement. Guidance, often determined at the high
est levels of government, regarding how and when flight crews may employ their weapons. In air-to-air combat, ROE usually specify specific criteria for identifying a non-friendly aircraft as hostile.
ROWPU Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit. A mobile (semi-trailer mounted) ground facility capable of producing fresh water from seawater or brackish water.
RO-RO Roll-on/Roll-off. A cargo ship with vehicle parking decks, flexible ramps, and special ventilation, allowing loaded vehicles to drive on or off under their own power.
RWR Radar Warning Receiver. An electronic detector tuned to one or more hostile radar frequencies and linked to an alarm that alerts the pilot to the approximate direction, and possibly the type, of threat. Similar in concept to automotive police radar detectors.
SADARM Sense And Destroy Armor. An “intelligent” artillery projectile that dispenses sub-munitions that home on armored vehicles.
SAM Surface-to-Air Missile. A guided missile designed to kill enemy aircraft. Most SAMs use rocket or ramjet propulsion and some type of radar or infrared guidance.
SAR Search and Rescue (sometimes written as CSAR, Combat Search and Rescue). An urgent and dangerous mission to recover shot-down flight crew or survivors from enemy-controlled territory or waters.
SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar. An aircraft radar (or operating mode of a multi-function radar) that can produce highly accurate ground maps.
SAW Squad Automatic Weapon. M249 5.56mm light machine gun.
SCUD Western reporting name for Soviet R-11 (SCUD-A) and R-17 (SCUD-B) short-range ballistic missile. Based largely on WWII German technology. Range of 110—180 miles with 1000 kg/ 2200 lb. warhead. Inaccurate inertial guidance.
SIGINT Signal Intelligence. Interception, decoding and analysis of enemy communications traffic.
SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System. A family of secure frequency-hopping VHF-FM tactical radios standardized throughout the U.S. armed forces.
SKE Station Keeping Equipment. Precision radio navigation system that enables formations of troop carrier aircraft to maintain formation at night or in bad weather.
Sortie The basic unit of airpower: one complete combat mission by one aircraft. “Sortie generation” is the ability of an air unit to re-arm, re-fuel and service aircraft for repeated missions in a given period.
Squad Military unit consisting of nine to fourteen soldiers, led by a sergeant. Usually divided into two fire teams.
SRAW Short-Range Assault Weapon. A twenty-pound shoulder-fired antitank and bunker-busting rocket, to be fielded in the late 1990s. Also called MPIM (Multi-Purpose Individual Munition) and “Predator” (by the U.S. Marine Corps).
Stealth A combination of design features, technologies, and materials—some highly classified—designed to reduce the radar, visual, infrared, and acoustic signature of an aircraft, ship, or other vehicle to the point where effective enemy detection and countermeasures are ineffective.
Stinger Man-portable infrared-guided surface-to-air missile, also mounted on helicopters and ground vehicles. Weighs 34.5 pounds with launcher. Used very effectively by Afghan guerrillas against Soviet Air Force in the 1980s.
T-10 Standard Army Airborne static-line parachute, almost unchanged since WWII.
TARPS Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System. A 1700-lb/770-kg pod built by Naval Avionics Center and fitted to two F-14A fighters in each carrier air wing. Pod carries a nine-inch panoramic camera, twelve-inch frame camera, and infrared line scanner.
TDY Temporary Duty. A military assignment to a location away from one’s normal duty station. TDY generally involves separation from family and entitles personnel to supplementary pay and allowances.
TFW Tactical Fighter Wing. A unit of three fighter squadrons and supporting units.
TO&E Table of Organization and Equipment. The official document that prescribes in detail the structure and authorized assets of a military unit.
TOW Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided missile. Heavy antitank weapon fired by Army helicopters and ground vehicles. Heavy antitank missile fired by Army and Marine Corps ground vehicles and helicopters. First saw combat in Vietnam in 1972, continuously updated and improved since then.
TRAP Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel.
UH-1 Huey light utility helicopter. Now obsolete in most Army units.
UH-60 “Blackhawk” utility helicopter. Widely used for transporting troops and supplies, and casualty evacuation. Can be armed with door guns and weapon pylons. Special versions for command/control and electronic intelligence.
UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Also known as a drone or RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle). A recoverable pilotless aircraft, either remotely controlled over a radio data link, or pre-programmed with an advanced auto-pilot.
USACOM United States Atlantic Command. Unified Command that includes the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet and most Army and Air Force combat units based in the continental United States. USACOM’s special role is the training and “packaging” of joint task forces that may have to be deployed to support other unified commands, such as CENTCOM, EUCOM, or PACOM.
V-22 Osprey Twin-engine tilt-rotor aircraft. Combines the agility of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop. Joint Marine /Navy/Air Force program, deliveries scheduled to begin in 1997.
Viewgraph An overhead projector transparency or slide used in briefings or presentations. Sometimes used as a term of derision for a project that is incompletely developed, as “His plan was nothing but a set of viewgraphs,” or “that aircraft design is still in the viewgraph stage.”
Wing Air Force unit, typically commanded by a colonel, consisting of several squadrons with supporting ground elements. Depending on type, a Wing may have fewer than a dozen aircraft, or more than a hundred.
XO Executive Officer. Second in command of a unit.
XVIII Roman numeral for eighteen. The 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Roman numerals have been used to designate Army Corps since the Napoleonic Wars, to the dismay of six generations of military historians.
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