Boomer Slang term for a ballistic-missile-carrying nuclear submarine or SSBN
Brimstone Solid-fuel anti-armour missile
Bureau 39 The North Korean government department responsible for the cultivation, transport, export and sale of illegal drugs
Bus Device in the nose of an ICBM that supports the warhead
Buster Full chat, maximum speed
CAG Commander, Air Group. The officer in charge of the air wing on an American carrier
CAP Combat Air Patrol. Defensive air patrol usually mounted by pairs of fighters to protect the aircraft carrier and other vessels from air attack
CBG Carrier Battle Group. American surface group headed by an aircraft carrier
CDS Chief of the Defence Staff
CFC Combined Forces Command. The joint American/South Korean military organization
CIC Combat Information Center. The tactical nerve centre of a US Navy aircraft carrier where data is collected and collated for the command
CINCFLEET Commander-In-Chief Fleet
Claymore A directional fragmentation mine that can be triggered by trip-wires, infrared sensors, or by command detonation
COMINT Communications Intelligence
ComSat Communications Satellite
COMSEC Communications Security
Cover All American Strategic Air Command’s airborne command post. One Cover All aircraft is airborne at all times, and additional units are launched in times of crisis. See also ‘E-6B’
CRV7 Ground-attack rocket, fired from an under-wing pod
DEFCON Defense Condition. A measure of the alert state of the American military machine. The DEFCON state runs from Five – the normal peacetime state – to One, which implies that America is either at war or about to go to war
DFC Dedicated Flying Course. Course steered by a carrier when recovering aircraft
DMZ Demilitarized Zone. Buffer separating the two Korean nations
DNI Director of National Intelligence. The highest position in the American intelligence organization
DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Like most Communist states, it’s neither democratic nor a republic, and certainly isn’t run by or for the people
E-2C All-weather tactical airborne warning and control system aircraft flown from US carriers. Commonly known as a Hawkeye
E-4B The Nightwatch Boeing 747-200 aircraft designed as a command post for the US President and military chiefs. Known as the National Airborne Operations Center or the National Emergency Airborne Command Post – NEACP or ‘Kneecap’
E-6B A modified Boeing 707 that acts as an airborne command post. Known as Cover All, its primary task is relaying instructions from the National Command Authority
EA-6B Electronic warfare aircraft designed to suppress enemy radars and communication systems. Commonly known as a Prowler
ECM Electronic Counter-Measures. Equipment used to counter any form of electronic surveillance or tracking devices, such as radar
EMCON Emission Control. EMCON policy is a statement of intent governing the use of radios and radar
EMP Electromagnetic Pulse. Surge following the detonation of a nuclear weapon, capable of destroying unshielded solid-state electronic devices
F-5 Shenyang F-5. Chinese-built version of the Russian MiG-17 fighter
F/A-18 Twin-engine, multi-role fighter/attack aircraft that has replaced several earlier types. Commonly known as a Super Hornet
Fan Song Tracking and guidance radar for the SA-2 SAM system
Fat Albert Slang term for a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Also known as a ‘Herky-bird’
Five See ‘MI5’
Flat Face Long-range C-band radar that forms part of the SA-2 SAM system
Flight Level Height of an aircraft in thousands of feet based upon the standard pressure setting of 1013.25 hPa (hectopascals) or 29.92 inches (for some American aircraft)
Flyco Flying Control Position. Located on the port side of the bridge of a CVS-class aircraft carrier, Flyco controls all launches from, and recoveries to, the ship
Fox Fire NATO reporting name for the very powerful RP-25M Saphir radar carried by the Russian MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor
Foxbat See ‘MiG-25’
G-loc G-induced loss of consciousness. Caused by excessive g-force that drains blood away from the brain
GBU-28 American bunker-busting bomb
GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters. Britain’s principal electronic intelligence-gathering service, based at Cheltenham
GIA Groupe Islamique Armé. Radical Islamic terrorist group operating in Algeria
GPS Global Positioning System. Satellite navigation equipment
GR9 Designation of the current Royal Navy Harrier fighter
GRU Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye. The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet General Staff, the Russian military intelligence organization
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 Istrebitel’nyi Aviatsion’nyi Polk (Fighter Aviation Regiment). Russian air-defence interceptor squadron
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 Ru
ssian 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
Reporting names The NATO reporting name system is a convenient shorthand that avoids awkward pronunciations and also immediately identifies the type of asset being talked about, simply by the first letter of the name. Fighters are designated by names beginning with ‘F’ – Foxbat, Fulcrum; bombers by ‘B’ – Bison, Badger; helicopters by ‘H’ – Hind, Hormone, and so on
RFA Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Merchant ships that operate under special rules and act as supply vessels to Royal Navy ships
RTB Return to base
SA-2 The most widely deployed SAM system ever manufactured, known in Russia as the S-75 Dvina, and by NATO as ‘Guideline’
SA-3 Isayev SAM system known in Russia as the S-125 Neva or Pechora. NATO reporting name ‘Goa’
SAM Surface-to-air missile system
SAR Search and rescue
SAS Special Air Service. Also known as ‘The Regiment’
Security Service See ‘MI5’
Shadow 2000 UAV Short-range tactical UAV manufactured by the AAI Corporation
Sidewinder See ‘AIM-9’
Sig 226 Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG)-Sauer P226. A full-size combat pistol chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge
SIGINT Signals intelligence
Sirena S-3M Radar homing and warning system fitted to the MiG-25 Foxbat
SIS Secret Intelligence Service. Frequently but inaccurately known as MI6, and responsible for espionage outside the United Kingdom. Also referred to as ‘Six’
Six See ‘SIS’
SLBM Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile
Speed jeans Anti-g trousers worn by fighter pilots to help prevent g-loc
Splot Senior pilot of a Royal Navy squadron
Spoon Rest Target acquisition and warning radar that forms part of the SA-2 SAM system
Squawk Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) return. Selecting (‘squawking’) a particular SSR code will display a four-digit number or the aircraft’s callsign on a radar screen and allow an aircraft to be identified immediately. Selecting one of the emergency squawks – 7700 (emergency), 7600 (radio failure) or 7500 (hijack) – will generate a flashing symbol
SR-71A Blackbird American high-speed, high-altitude surveillance aircraft, which still holds numerous absolute speed records. It first flew in 1964, nine years after the first flight of the U-2, and had a long and highly successful career before being officially retired in the early 1990s
SSBN Sub-Surface Ballistic Nuclear. American designation of a ballistic missile-carrying nuclear-powered submarine
SSR See ‘Squawk’
Starbase/Starship Slang terms for the USS Enterprise
STOL Short Take-Off and Landing aircraft
Storm Shadow Anglo-French air-launched cruise missile
Stovie Royal Navy slang term for a Harrier or other fighter pilot
Super Hornet See ‘F/A-18’
Superdollars Near-perfect copies of American banknotes produced in North Korea that even experts find difficult to detect. They’re known in the USA as PN-14342 notes, the numbering derived from Secret Service nomenclature
SVR Sluzhba Vneshney Razvyedki Rossi. The successor to the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, responsible for espionage and intelligence operations outside Russia
TACAMO Literally, ‘Take Charge and Move Out’. A system of survivable communication links and platforms, including aircraft, designed to ensure that in the event of a nuclear exchange, proper control of US forces could still be exercised
TEL Transporter-Erector-Launcher. The vehicle used to transport and fire a missile such as the Scud
Telebrief Communication system used on Royal Navy aircraft carriers to allow a pilot to receive last-minute tactical updates from the Operations staff
TFT Thin-Film Transistor. Technology used in flat-panel computer screens
Trappers Examining officers who assess a pilot’s flying ability and competence
Trident Submarine-launched ballistic missile-carrying nuclear warheads
U-2 High-altitude surveillance aircraft developed by Lockheed in the 1950s
UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
USStratCom United States Strategic Command
Vauxhall Cross The headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service fronting the Thames in London. The building’s bizarre design has spawned a number of uncomplimentary nicknames. To those who work inside the building, it’s known as ‘Legoland’
Wadi Dried-up watercourse in a desert
Wings Commander (Air). The head of the Air Department on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier or air station
North Korean military ranks (in ascending order)
Chung-wi Lieutenant
Tab-wi Captain
So-ryong Major
Chung-yong Lieutenant-colonel
Tab-ryong Colonel
So-jang Major-general
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