A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AAA Anti-Aircraft Artillery. A ground based threat to Airplanes.
AAM Anti-Aircraft Missile
AEW Airborne Early Warning
AFTERBURNING Injecting Raw Fuel into the jetpiple to temporarily increase thrust.
AGM Air-to-ground Missile
AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile Known as the `Tomahawk'
AIM-7 U.S. Missile Known as `Sparrow'. Radar Guided AAM
AIM-9 U.S. Missile Known as `Sidewinder'. Infra-red guided AAM
ALARM Air launched Anti-Radiation Missile
ALCM Air Launched Cruise Missile
AMRAAM Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile
ANVIS Aviator's Night Vision System
AN/APG USAF designation for airborne radar systems
AoA Angle of Attack, where airstream meet airfoil
ARBS Angle Rate Bombing Set
ARM Anti-Radiation Missile (Locks on Radar Emissions
ASMP French Nuclear Stand-off Missile
ASPECT RATIO The wingspan divided by its chord
ATGM Anti Tank Guided Missile
AVIONICS Aviation Electronics
AWACS Airborne Warning and control system
BDA Bomb Damage Assessment
BGL Laser Guided Tactical Bomb used by the French
BLADDER TANK Fuel tank made from non-rigid material
BVR Beyond Visual Range
C3 Command, Control, and Communications
CANARDS Foreplanes forward of the center of gravity
CANOPY See-Through Cockpit Cover
CHORD Distance between the edges of the leading and trailing edges of a wing or rotor
blade
CAS Close Air Support
CAP Combat Air Patrol
CBU Cluster Bomb Unit (A large bomb containing lots of smaller bombs)
CCV Control Configured Vehicle
COMM/NAV Communications and Navigation
CKD Component Knocked Down
CFC Carbon Fiber Composites
COIN Counter Insurgency
COINS Computer Operated Instrument System
CP/G Co-Pilot/Gunner in an attack helicopter
CRT Cathode Ray Tube
DEM/EVAL Demonstration/Evaluation
DLIR Downward Looking Infra-Red locate on the top of the fusages leading Edge. AKA
Sawtooth
DVI Direct Voice Input
ECM Electronic Counter Measures
EFA European Fighter Aircraft AKA Eurofighter (i.e. EF2000)
ELF Extremly Low frequency elint electronic intelligence
EMP Electro Magnetic Pulse (Generated By A nuclear Explosion)
ESM Electronic Support Countermeasures
EW Electronic Warfare
EXTERNAL STORES Weapons and fuel loadout carried outside the aircraft
FLAP Surface on the trailing edge of a wing to increase lift during
takeoff/landing
FBW Fly-By-Wire (Electronically controled aircraft)
FENESTRON Tail Rotor on a Helicopter with lots of blades spinning in a duct
FFAR Free Flight Aircraft Rocket
FLIR Forward Looking Infra Red
FSD Full Scale Development
FT Feet (Measurement)
FUSELAGE PLUG Additional Section on Fuselage to accamodate new equipment
G Acceleration measure with units of gravity
GAL Gallon
GALLON 1 US gallon = 3.78 Litres 1 UK gallon = 4.54 Litres
GPS Global Positioning System
GPWS Ground Proximity Warning System
HARDPOINTS Pylons or other fittings enabling missiles or other loads to
be attached such as fuel tanks of bombs
HDD Heads Down Display
HELITOW Helicopter launch TOW missile
HMD Helmet Mounted Display
HMS Helmet Mounted Sight
HOT Euromissile Anti-Tank-Missile
HOTAS Hands on throttle and stick
HSOS Helicopter Stabilized Optical Sight
HUD Heads Up Display
HUDWAC Heads Up Display Weapons Arming Computer
IFF Identification Friend or Foe
IFR Instrument Fight Rules (as opposed to visual flight rules)
IN Inches
INS Internal Navigation System
IOC Initial Operational Capability
IR Infra-Red
IRLS Infra-Red Line Scan
IRST Infra-Red Search and track
IRCM Infra-Red Countermeasures
JASDF Japanese Air Self Defense Force
J-STARS Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System
LABS Low Altitude Bombing System
LANTIRN Low altitude navigation and targeting infra-red, night
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
LED Light Emitting Diode
LOH Light Observation Helicopter
LORAN Long-Range Navigation
LOS Line of Sight
LOW OBSERVABLES Materials used to make the aircraft less vulnrable to Radar or other
sensors.
LGB Laser Guided Bomb
LGW Laser Guided Weapon
LLTV Low Light Television
LRMTS Laser Marked Target System
MAC Military Airlift command
MAD Magnetic Anomaly detector
MFD Multi Function Display
MMS Mast Mounted Sight
MPH Miles Per Hour
MPLH Multi Purpose Light Helicopter
MTOW Maximum Takeoff Weight
NS Newton Second
NVG Night Vision Goggles
OLEO Hydraulic leg of an aircrafts undercarrage
OPTRONICS Optical/Electronic View or sight system
OTO MELARA Italian defense company
OTH Over the Horizon
PAYLOAD Cargo of weapons held by an aircraft
PGM Precision guided munitions
PLAAF Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (Communist China)
PNVS Passive Night Vision System
PORT Left
RADOME Dome covering a radar airal
RAAF Royal Austrailian Air Force
RAF Royal Air Force
RWR Radar Warning Receiver
S Seconds
SAWTOOTH Leading edge on a wing
SAAF South African Air Force
SAM Surface to Air missile
SAR Search and Rescue
SERVICE CEILING height at which rate of climb is 100 feet per second
SIGINT Signals Intelligence
SLAT Section of the leading edge that moves forward
SONOBOUY Bouy with sonar droped to detect submarines
SRAM Short Range Attack missle
STARBOARD Right
SWEEPBACK Backward inclination of the wing
TACAN Tactical Air Navigation
TADS Target Acquisition and detection sight
TAILERON Left and Right tail plane used as control surfaces
TAILPLANE Main horizontal tail sufaces
TFR Terrain Following Radar
TRANSPARENTCIES Cokpit Canopies
TRANSEIVER Transmitter/Receiver Radio
TURBOFAN Gas turbine engine in which a large fan generates thrust
TURBOJET Gas turbine where exhaust generates thrust
TURBOPROP Gas turbine used to drive aircraft propellar
UHF Ultra High Frequency
USAF Untied States Air Force
USMC United States Marine Corps
VENTRAL The underside of a fuselage
VORTEX GENERATORS Blades Fitted to wing surface to improve control
VFR Visual Flight Rules
VLF Very Low Frequency
V/STOL Vertical/Short Takeoff and landing
VTOL Vertical Takeoff and landing
WING AREA Total area of wing
WING LOADED Aircraft's weight divided by wing area
WSO Weapons station officer
ZERO/ZERO SEAT Ejector seat designed to function even when the aircraft is landed