AK — Avtomat-Kalashnikov assault rifle, the standard rifle of the Red Army. The original AK, the AK-47, fired a 7.62mm. round in either the semiautomatic or the full automatic mode. The rifle has a cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute but in reality can only fire 90 rounds, as the magazine holds either 30 or 40 rounds. Effective range of the AK-47 is 400 meters. The AKM was an improvement of the AK47, a folding stock being the most noticeable feature. The current assault rifle of the Red Army, the AKS74, which is based on the AK- 47, fires a 5 .45mm. round and has an effective range of 500 meters.
ATGM — Antitank guided missile.
AWACS — See E-3 Sentry.
Battalion — A military organization consisting of three to five companies, with personnel strength of 350 to 800 men.
Battle-Dress Uniform — Camouflaged fatigues worn by U.S. ground forces. Referred to as BDUs.
Blackhawk — See UH-60 Blackhawk.
BMD — The airborne version of the BMP-1 (See BMP).
BMP — A Red Army infantry-fighting vehicle introduced in the 1960s. It comes in two primary versions. The BMP-1, the original design, is armed with a 73mm. smooth-bore gun, a 7.62mm. machine gun and an AT-3 SAGER antitank guided missile. The BMP-2 is armed with a 30mm. gun, a 7.62mm. machine gun and an AT-5 SPAN DEL antitank guided missile. Both vehicles have a crew of three and can carry eight infantrymen. The BMP is amphibious, weighs 11.3 tons and has a range of operations of 310 miles and a top speed of 34 mph. There are now several variations of this vehicle, including a reconnaissance version that has replaced the PT-76 light tank, and a command post. Boggy-Air Force slang for an enemy aircraft.
Bradley — Name of the U.S. Army infantry-fighting vehicle. See M-2.
BRDM — The standard Soviet reconnaissance vehicle. This vehicle comes in two recon versions, the BRDM-1, now obsolete, and the BRDM-2. The BRDM-2 is armed with a 14.5mm. machine gun and a 7.62mm. machine gun; it weighs 6.9 tons, is fully amphibious, and has a top speed of 62 mph on land and 6.25 mph in the water, with a range of 400 miles.
Brigade — A flexible organization that consists of two to five combat maneuver battalions and various combat support and combat service support units such as engineers, air-defense artillery, military intelligence, supply, medical, maintenance, etc.
BTR-60 — A Soviet eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier capable of carrying up to fourteen people. It weighs approximately 10 tons, is amphibious and is fielded in several versions, some of which have a small turret armed with a 14.5mm. and a 7.62mm. machine gun.
CAA — See Combined Arms Army.
C-5A Galaxy — The largest transport aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. It can carry 100 tons and all oversized cargo such as tanks, and has a range of 7500 miles.
CO — Short for 'commanding officer.'
Combined Arms Army — The Soviet equivalent of a U.S. Army corps in size and purpose. It has three or four motorized rifle divisions and one or two tank divisions, plus combat-support units such as artillery, rocket troops, air defense, attack helicopters and engineers, as well as supply and transportation units. The combined arms army is the main weapon of the Red Army at the operational level.
Company — A military organization that numbers from 50 to 180 personnel and is normally divided into platoons and/or sections.
Corps — In the U.S. Army, an organization comprising several combat divisions, independent combat brigades, armored cavalry regiments, and combat-support units such as artillery, rocket troops, air defense, attack helicopter and engineers, as well as supply and transportation units. It is a flexible organization that can be added to or have units taken from it, depending on the corps's missions. The corps is commanded by a lieutenant general and can number from 50,000 to over 100,000 men.
CP (Command Post) — The center where commanders and their operations and intelligence staff, along with special staff officers, plan, monitor and control the battle.
CQ — Short for 'charge of quarters.' This is a noncommissioned officer who is put on duty at company level during non duty hours. He is responsible for the maintenance of unit rules and regulations and is the point of contact for receiving and passing important information at the company.
Division — A major military organization that consists of brigades and/or regiments and can have personel strength as low as 6,500 men or as high as 20,000 depending on the type.
Dragon — The M-47, currently the medium-range wire guided antitank guided missile, with a maximum range of 1,000 meters, used by both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps. The system consists of a tracker, which contains all the optics and the command guidance system, and the missile, which comes in a fiberglass tube that is disposed of after the missile has been fired. The missile and the launcher together weigh 30 pounds.
E-3 Sentry — An airborne early-warning and control system (AWACS). The Sentry, equipped with state of-the-art radar and sensors, provides a look-down view of all air activity over an extended area of operations. It is more than a simple information-gatherer; the personnel aboard control the conduct of air operations, directing friendly fighters against hostile aircraft.
F-15 Eagle — An air-superiority fighter. Introduced in late 1974, the F-15, along with the F-16, is the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force today and for the foreseeable future. The A and C models are single- seater fighters, the B and C models are two-seater trainers, and the E model, now entering service, is a two seater ground-attack plane. The F-15 weighs 12.7 tons empty and can cant' a variety of stores weighing up to 8 tons in the A and C models and tons in the E model. (The B-17 heavy bomber of World War II had a maximum bomb load of 10 tons.) In addition to bombs, the F-15 can carry four Sparrow and four Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and has a 20mm. gun with 920 rounds for air-to-air combat. Maximum speed at 36,000' feet and carrying only four Sparrows is 1,653 mph, or two and a half times the speed of sound. It is capable of flying as high as 65,000 feet.
Frigate — A small naval ship used as an escort and for submarine-hunting. It can carry a variety of offensive weapons, including a 5-inch gun, torpedoes, surface to-surface antiship missiles, surface-to-air antiaircraft missiles, antisubmarine rockets, and a helicopter used in antisubmarine warfare (ASW) operations. It can also carry various defenses against missile attacks, including antimissile missiles, rapid-fire guns, and electronic and mechanical spoofing devices designed to confuse the incoming missile's guidance system. A typical frigate weighs approximately 3,000 tons.
G1, etc. — See S-1, etc.
HEAT — High-explosive antitank. A HEAT round is a round that has a shaped charge in its warhead. Upon impact and detonation, the shaped charge forms a jet stream of molten-metal particles traveling at extreme high speeds. This jet stream literally displaces the molecules of an armored vehicle's armor and forces its way into the interior of the vehicle, where it comes into contact with flammable material such as on-board fuel and ammo-and, of course, with the crew. Reactive armor, now in use in several armies around the world, is meant to defeat HEAT rounds by preventing the jet stream of the HEAT round from forming. Hummer-The M-998 high- mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). This is the replacement for the World War II-era one-quarter-ton truck or jeep.
KGB — The security force of the USSR, reaching into every aspect of Soviet life and into the affairs of all nations. The KGB comprises many services and organizations. Besides intelligence, it includes border security forces, battalions of paramilitary troops for internal security, and political officers attached to military units; and it mans and runs the State's prison-camp system for political prisoners. The head of the KGB is one of the three most powerful men in the Soviet Union.
LAVA — wheeled light armored vehicle (hence LAV), in use with the U.S. Marine Corps. It weighs slightly under 10 tons and has a top speed of 63 mph and range of over 400 miles. Armament includes a 25mm. cannon, the same as that used by the M-2 Bradley, and a 7.62mm. machine gun mounted coaxially with the 25mm. cannon.
LAW — Light antitank weapon. The current LAW in use with the U.S. Army is the 66mm. M72A2 that fires an antitank rocket from a disposable tube and has an effective range of 355 meters. The M72 is being replaced by the AT-4, built by Honeywell and based on the Swedish LAW. The AT-4 weighs 14.6 pounds, fires an 84mm. antitank rocket from a disposable launcher and has an effective range of 500 meters.
