transportable network of computer workstations, linking various databases required for the generation of an Air Tasking Order.
CVW Carrier Air Wing; a force of Navy aircraft organized for operation from an aircraft carrier, Typically includes one fighter squadron, two attack squadrons, and small units of helicopters, antisubmarine, electronic warfare, and early warning radar planes.
DoD Department of Defense. U.S. Government branch created in 1947, responsible for the four armed services and numerous agencies, program offices, and joint projects.
Drag The force that resists the motion of a vehicle through a gaseous or liquid medium. The opposite force is lift.
E-2C Hawkeye U.S. Navy carrier-based twin-turboprop airborne early warning aircraft built by Northrop Grumman. Entered service in 1964. Also operated by France, Israel, Egypt, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan.
E-8 JSTARS Joint Surveillance and Targeting Attack Radar System. An Army/Air Force program to deploy about 20 Boeing E-8C aircraft equipped with powerful side-looking synthetic-aperture radars to detect moving ground targets at long range.
E/O Electro-optical. A general term for sensors that use video, infrared, or laser technology for assisting navigation or locating, tracking, or designating targets.
ECM Electronic Countermeasures. Any use of the electromagnetic spectrum to confuse, degrade, or defeat hostile radars, sensors, or radio communications. The term ECCM (electronic counter- countermeasures) is used to describe active or passive defensive measures against enemy ECM, such as frequency-hopping or spread-spectrum waveforms.
ELINT Electronic Intelligence. Interception and analysis of radar, radio, and other electromagnetic emissions in order to determine enemy location, numbers, and capabilities.
ESM Electronic Security Measures. Usually refers to systems that monitor the electromagnetic spectrum to detect, localize, and warn of potential threats.
Exocet French-built antiship missile, widely exported in air-launched (AM-39), ship- launched (MM-38/40), and submarine-launched (SM-39) versions. Two AM-39 Exocets fired by an Iraqi aircraft damaged the U.S. Navy frigate
F/A-18 Hornet Boeing 'Hornet' carrier-capable fighter-bomber, operated by Navy and Marine squadrons, and the Air Forces of Canada, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and Finland. Improved F/A-18E/F model under development.
FADEC Full Authority Digital Engine Control, a computer that monitors jet-engine performance and pilot-throttle inputs and regulates fuel supply for maximum efficiency.
Flameout Unintended loss of combustion inside a jet engine, due to a disruption of airflow. This can be extremely serious if the flight crew is unable to restart the affected engine.
Flap A hinged control surface, usually on the trailing edge of a wing, commonly used to increase lift during takeoff and drag during landing.
Flare (1). A pyrotechnic device ejected by an aircraft as a countermeasure to heat- seeking missiles. (2). A pitch-up maneuver to bleed off energy performed during landing, just before touching down.
FLIR Forward Looking Infrared: an electro-optical device similar to a television camera that 'sees' in the infrared spectrum rather than visible light. FLIRs display an image based on minute temperature variations, so that hot engine exhaust ducts, for example, appear as bright spots.
G-Force One G is the force exerted by Earth's gravity on stationary objects at sea level. High-energy maneuvers can subject the aircraft and pilot to as much as 9 Gs. Some advanced missiles can pull as much as 60 Gs in a turn.
GBU Guided Bomb Unit. General U.S. term for precision-guided munitions.
GBU-29/30/31/32 JDAM Joint Direct Attack Munition. A general-purpose bomb or penetration warhead, with inertial/GPS guidance package in the tail cone. Initial operational capability planned for 1999. Navy requirement is 12,000 bombs; Air Force requirement is for 62,000.
Geosynchronous Also called 'geostationary.' A satellite in equatorial orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km (about 22,230 miles) will take 24 hours to circle the Earth. In 24 hours the Earth rotates once on its axis, so the satellite will appear to be 'fixed' over the same point on the earth.
'Glass' Cockpit Design that replaces individual flight gauges and instruments with multi- function electronic display screens. A few mechanical gauges are usually retained for emergency backup.
Goldwater-Nichols Common name for the Military Reform Act of 1986, which created a series of Unified Commands cutting across traditional service boundaries and strengthened the power of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
GPS Global Positioning System. A constellation of 24 satellites in inclined earth orbits, which continuously broadcast navigational signals synchronized by ultra-precise atomic clocks. At least four satellites are usually in transit across the sky visible from any point on Earth outside the Polar Regions. A specialized computer built into a portable receiver can derive highly accurate position and velocity information by correlating data from three or more satellites. An encoded part of the signal is reserved for military use. A similar, incomplete, Russian system is called GLONASS.
HARM AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, produced by Texas Instruments. Mach 2+. 146-1b blast-fragmentation warhead. Typically fired 35 to 55 miles from target, but maximum range is greater. First used in combat in April 1986 raid on Libya; 40 missiles fired.
Have Blue Original Lockheed 'Skunk Works' prototype for the F-117 Stealth fighter. Considerably smaller than the production aircraft, and still highly classified.
HEI High Explosive Incendiary, a type of ammunition commonly used with air-to-air guns.
HOTAS Hands on Throttle and Stick. A cockpit flight control unit that allows the pilot to regulate engine power settings and steering commands with one hand.
HS Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron.
HSL Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron, Light.
HUD Heads-Up Display: a transparent screen above the cockpit instruments on which critical flight, target, and weapons information is projected, so that the pilot need not look down to read gauges and displays during an engagement. Current HUD technology provides wide-angle display of radar and sensor data.
IIR Imaging Infrared. An electro-optical device similar to a video camera that 'sees' small differences in temperature and displays them as levels of contrast or false colors on a operator's display screen.
ILS Instrument Landing System. A radio-frequency device installed at some airfields that assists the pilot of a suitably equipped aircraft in landing during conditions of poor visibility.
INS Inertial Navigation System. A device that determines location and velocity by sensing the acceleration and direction of every movement since the system was initialized or updated at a known point. Conventional INS systems using mechanical gyroscopes are subject to 'drift' after hours of continuous operation. Ring-laser gyros sense motion by measuring the frequency shift of laser pulses in two counter-rotating rings, and are much more accurate. The advantage of an INS is that it requires no external transmission to determine location.
Interdiction Use of airpower to disrupt or prevent the movement of enemy military units and supplies by attacking transportation routes, vehicles, and bridges deep in the enemy rear.
IOC Initial Operational Capability. The point in the life cycle of a weapon system when it officially enters service and is considered ready for combat, with all training, spare parts, technical manuals, and software complete. The more complex the system, the greater the chance that the originally scheduled IOC will slip.
IRBM Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. A rocket (typically two-stage) designed to deliver a warhead over regional rather than intercontinental distances. This class of weapons was eliminated by treaty and obsolescence from U.S. and Russian strategic forces, but is rapidly proliferating in various world trouble spots, despite international efforts to limit the export of ballistic missile technologies.
