Airborne (1997) (63 page)

JTFEX
Joint Task Force Exercise.

KC-10 Extender
Heavy tanker/transport based on Douglas DC-10 wide-body commercial airliner. Fifty-nine aircraft in service, some modified with drogue refueling hose reel as well as tail boom. Three CF6 turbofan engines. Maximum takeoff weight 590,000 lbs.

Kevlar
Dupont trademark name for a high-strength synthetic material used to manufacture helmets and body armor.

Knot
Nautical miles per hour. Often used by U.S. Air Force and Navy to measure aircraft speeds, particularly in the subsonic range. One knot equals one nautical mile per hour.

LANTIRN
Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night. A pair of electronic pods mounted on F-15E and certain F-16 fighter aircraft. Built by Lockheed Martin.

LAPES
Low Altitude Precision Extraction System. Use of a small drogue parachute to extract a cargo pallet or vehicle from the ramp of a cargo aircraft skimming just above a runway. Visually impressive, but rarely used, since it is risky and requires highly trained crews and loadmasters.

LAW
M72 Light Antitank Weapon. Single-shot disposable rocket launcher, now obsolete.

LGB
Laser-Guided Bomb.

LGOP
Little Groups of Paratroops. Airborne-style of small-unit tactics, deriving from WWII experience, when combat jumps resulted in severe scattering and intermixing of units.

LIC
Low Intensity Combat. Army jargon for “small war.” A term rarely used by the people actually doing the fighting.

LMSLR
Program designation (Logistic Military Sealift Long-Range) for conversion of 50,000-ton fast container ships for prepositioning Army equipment in the Western Pacific (Saipan).

LOSAT
Line of Sight Antitank. A big (177 lb/ 80.4 kg) high-velocity unguided rocket that relies on kinetic energy to destroy armored targets. Originally intended for mounting on a (now cancelled) light armored vehicle chassis, program status in 1996 was uncertain.

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 highest 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.