GPS Global Positioning System. Satellite navigation equipment
GR9 Designation of the current Royal Navy Harrier fighter
GRU
Guard Military UHF emergency frequency of 243.0 megahertz. The equivalent civil VHF frequency is 121.5 megahertz
GWO Group Warfare Officer
Hawkeye See ‘E-2C’
Head-shed SAS slang term for the Regiment’s headquarters at Hereford. Also known as ‘The Kremlin’
Herky-bird Slang term for a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Also known as a ‘Fat Albert’
HIFR Helicopter In-Flight Refuelling. A method of refuelling a helicopter whilst in the hover beside a ship that’s too small to allow the aircraft to land-on
Homer A radar console manned by a specialist Air Traffic Control officer on a CVS-class aircraft carrier
HUD Head-Up Display
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
IAP
ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
INGPS Inertial Navigation/Global Positioning System fitted to the GR9 Harrier
JARIC Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre. The Royal Air Force’s photographic interpretation unit, located at RAF Brampton, near Huntingdon
JIC Joint Intelligence Center. Intelligence collection and collation facility on a US aircraft carrier
JTIDS Joint Tactical Information Distribution System. Secure electronic data dissemination system that links airborne assets with surface units
Keyhole American KH-11 or KH-12 reconnaissance satellite
KH-12 Type of surveillance satellite normally known as ‘Keyhole’
Kiloton Yield equivalent to the explosion of one thousand tons of TNT and normally applied to the power of a tactical nuclear weapon. The yield of strategic nuclear weapons is measured in megatons, or millions of tons of TNT
Kyocera Make of satellite telephone
Legoland See ‘Vauxhall Cross’
Little F Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander (Flying)
Mach Measure of an aircraft’s speed relative to the speed of sound. Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, Mach 3 three times the speed, and so on
Maverick AGM-65 air-to-surface tactical missile
MI5 Military Intelligence 5 – the Security Service – responsible for counter-espionage in the United Kingdom. Also known as ‘Five’ or ‘The Box’ (from its old postal address of ‘PO Box 500, London’)
MI6 See ‘SIS’
MiG-25 Mikoyan-Gurevich supersonic interceptor, NATO reporting name ‘Foxbat’. The fastest fighter aircraft ever manufactured, capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3, though red-lined at Mach 2.5
MIRV Multiple Independently-targeted Re-entry Vehicle. System of multiple warheads contained within a single missile’s nose-cone, and often including decoys
Mode Charlie Automated height readout that forms part of an aircraft’s SSR fit. See also ‘Squawk’
MPCD Multi-Purpose Crystal Display. Part of the GR9 Harrier’s HUD
MRE Meal, Ready-to-Eat. US Army field ration
MVD Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del. Actually the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but normally used to mean the Russian police force
NBCD Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence
NIS National Intelligence Service. South Korea’s intelligence agency
NMCC National Military Command Center, located in the Joint Staff area of the Pentagon
NOFORN No Foreign Nationals. CIA acronym restricting sight of a document to American citizens
NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command. In many ways the centre of America’s defensive armament, NORAD is located in the heart of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, and has links to sensor networks and other hardened facilities all over the United States
N-PIC National Photographic Interpretation Center. Part of the Science and Technology Directorate of the CIA and based at Building 213 in the Washington Navy Yard
NSA National Security Agency. America’s extremely secretive electronic intelligence agency, analogous to Britain’s GCHQ. Sometimes known as ‘No Such Agency’
NVG Night Vision Goggles
ODNI Office of the Director of National Intelligence
OHP Overhead projector
OP Observation Point
Oplan 5027 The ‘master plan’ conceived by South Korea and America to repel a North Korean invasion
Orbitron A satellite-tracking program available for free download from the Polish website www.stoff.pl
PAC-2/PAC-3 See ‘Patriot’
Patriot Patriot Advanced Capability versions 2 and 3. A high-performance air-defence guided missile system
Pave Paws AN/FPS-115 long-range phased-array radar system operated by the 21st Space Wing of the USAF Space Command for missile warning and space surveillance. Radars are located at Beale, Cape Cod and Clear, Alaska
Pigeons Magnetic heading to steer and nautical miles to run to reach a ship. Passed to a pilot on recovery to the ship in the format ‘Pigeons two seven five at forty-two’
Pinky or Pink Panther SAS Land Rover
Predator A long-endurance, medium-altitude UAV. The RQ-1 version is used only for reconnaissance, but the multi-role MQ-1 can be armed with Hellfire missiles
PriFly Primary Flight Control. The location on an American aircraft carrier from which flight operations are supervised
Prowler See ‘EA-6B’
RAW Radar Warning Receiver
