A-12 General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger, a 1990's Navy program for a stealthy carrier strike aircraft, canceled due to cost overruns and program mismanagement.
AAA Antiaircraft artillery also called 'triple-A' or 'flak' (from the German 'fliegerabwehrkanone' or air defense gun).
AAQ-13/14 LANTIRN Low Altitude Navigation Targeting Infrared for Night. A pair of sensor pods mounted on the F-15E and certain F-16C/D aircraft. The AAQ-13 Navigation Pod combines a Forward Looking Infrared sensor and a terrain-following radar. The AAQ-14 Targeting Pod combines a Forward Looking Infrared and Laser Target Designator. Entire system is built by Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) and tightly integrated with the aircraft's flight control and weapons delivery software. A version of the AAQ-14 targeting pod with an internal GPS/ INS system is used aboard the F-14 Tomcat.
ACC Air Combat Command. Major command of the USAF formed in 1992 by the merger of Strategic Air Command (bombers and tankers) and Tactical Air Command (fighters).
ACES II Standard U.S. ejection seat built by Boeing, based on an original design by the Weber Corporation. ACES is a 'zero-zero' seat, which means that it can save the crew person's life (at the risk of some injury) down to zero airspeed and zero altitude, as long as the aircraft is not inverted. Humorously known as the 'hostage delivery system.'
ACM Air Combat Maneuvering, the art of getting into position to shoot the other guy, preferably from behind, before he can shoot you. A vital but expensive part of advanced flight training for fighter pilots, ACM is most effective on an instrumented radar range with 'playback' facilities for debriefing.
Aegis Advanced automated tracking and missile fire-control system on modem U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers. Key components are the SPY-1 phased-array radar and the SM-2 missile. Named for the shield of Zeus in Greek mythology.
AEW Airborne Early Warning. Specifically used to describe aircraft like the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye and Boeing E-3 Sentry, but also used generically to describe similar types used by other Air Forces.
AFB Air Force Base.
Afterburner Device that injects fuel into the exhaust nozzle of a jet engine, boosting thrust at the cost of greater fuel consumption. Called 'Reheat' by the British.
AGM-62 Walleye AGM-62 television-guided glide bomb with 2,000-1b warhead. Maximum range of about 20 miles, depending on speed and altitude of launch aircraft. Used in Vietnam War; obsolescent but still in stock.
AGM-65 Maverick Family of air-to-surface missiles, produced since 1971 by Hughes and Raytheon with a variety of guidance and warhead configurations. Range about 14 nm. Navy versions carried by S-3, P-3, F/A-18, and other aircraft use imaging infrared guidance.
AGM-84 Harpoon/SLAM AGM-84, turbojet powered antiship missile, up to 120 miles range with 488-lb/220-kg explosive warhead. AGM-84E version ('SLAM') uses Maverick IIR seeker and GPS-aided guidance.
AGM-154 JSOW Joint Standoff Weapon. Low-cost 1,000-pound glide bomb with 25-mile range, using INS/GPS guidance. Carries 145 BLU-97 bomblets. A version carrying a 1,000-pound unitary warhead is under development.
AH-1W 'Cobra' attack helicopter found in Marine light-attack squadrons. Nicknamed 'Whiskey Cobra' or 'Snake.'
AIM-9 Sidewinder Heat-seeking missile family, used by the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army, and many export customers. A letter, such as AIM-9M or-9X, designates variants.
AIM-120 AMRAAM AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM). First modern air-to-air missile to use programmable microprocessors with active radar homing (missile has its own radar transmitter, allowing 'fire and forget' tactics). Currently carried by Navy and Marine F/A-18's.
ARG Amphibious Ready Group.
ATO Air Tasking Order. A planning document that lists every aircraft sortie and target for a given day's operations. Preparation of the ATO requires careful 'deconfliction' to ensure the safety of friendly aircraft. During Desert Storm the ATO ran to thousands of pages each day.
Avionics General term for all the electronic systems on an aircraft, including radar, communications, flight control, navigation, identification, and fire-control computers. A 'data bus' or high-speed digital network increasingly interconnects components of an avionics system.
BDA Bomb Damage Assessment. The controversial art of determining from fuzzy imagery and contradictory intelligence whether or not a particular target has been destroyed or rendered inoperative.
BVR Beyond visual range; usually used in reference to radar guided air-to-air missiles. 'Visual range' depends on the weather, how recently the windscreen was cleaned and polished, and the pilot's visual acuity, but against a fighter-sized target rarely exceeds 10 miles (16 km).
C-130 Hercules Lockheed medium transport aircraft. Four Allison T56 turboprops. Over 2,000 of these classic aircraft have been built since 1955, and it is still in production.
C3I Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence; the components and targets of information warfare. Pronounced 'C-three-I.'
Call Sign (1). An identifying name and number assigned to an aircraft for a particular mission. Aircraft in the same flight will usually have consecutive numbers. (2). A nickname given to an aviator by his/her squadron mates and retained throughout his/her flying career, often humorous.
Canopy Transparent bubble that covers the cockpit of an aircraft. Usually made of Plexiglas, or polycarbonate, sometimes with a microscopically thin layer of radar-absorbing material or gold. Easily scratched or abraded by sand or hail. Ejection seats have a means of explosively jettisoning or fracturing the canopy to reduce the chance of injury during ejection.
CAP Combat Air Patrol, a basic fighter tactic that involves cruising economically at high or medium altitude over a designated area searching for enemy aircraft.
CBU Cluster Bomb Unit. An aircraft munition that is fused to explode at low altitude, scattering large numbers of 'submunitions' over a target area. Submunitions can be explosive grenades, delayed- action mines, antitank warheads, or other specialized devices.
CENTAF Air Force component of U.S. Central Command, including units deployed to bases in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other states in the Gulf region. The commander of CENTAF is an Air Force It. general, who typically also commands Ninth Air Force based at Shaw AFB, SC.
CENTCOM United States Central Command, a unified (joint service) command with an area of responsibility in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Headquartered at McDill AFB, FL, and generally commanded by an Army four-star general. CENTCOM normally commands no major combat units, but in a crisis situation it would rapidly be reinforced by units of the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps, the U.S. Marine Corps, and allied forces.
Chaff Bundles of thin strips of aluminum foil or metallized plastic film that are ejected from an aircraft to confuse hostile radar. A chaff cloud creates a temporary 'smoke screen' that makes it difficult for radar to pick out real targets. The effectiveness of chaff depends on matching the length of the chaff strips to the wavelength of the radar.
Chine A sharp-edged projection running along the fuselage of an aircraft, often as an extension of the leading-edge wing root. Particularly prominent on the F/A-18 Homet.
CinC Commander in Chief. Used to designated the senior officer, typically a four-star general or admiral in charge of a major command, such as CINCPAC (Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command).
CIWS Mk. 15 'Close-in Weapons System.' Pronounced 'Sea-Whiz.' The Phalanx automatic gun and radar system, as installed on Navy ships of many classes.
CONOPS Concept of Operations. The commander's guidance to subordinate units on the conduct of a campaign.
CSAR Combat Search and Rescue. Recovery of downed air crew evading captures in an enemy-held area. Typically a helicopter mission supported by fixed-wing aircraft.
CTAPS Contingency Tactical Air Control System Automated Planning System. A
