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.
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
