Hellfire

by Ed Macy

  Bird table: A table (often strewn with maps) that all of the main players gather around to discuss and brief the details of operations

  Bitching Betty: The Apache’s female cockpit voice warning system

  Black brain: The black kneeboard Apache pilots fly with on their thigh that contains everything that can’t be committed to memory and may be needed instantly in flight

  Bob-up box: A piece of symbology displayed in the monocle that remains fixed in space. It allows the crew to know how far they are from a self-generated known point in space they were hovering over when it was created.

  Bonedome: Helmet

  Brick: A term used in Northern Ireland for a four man patrol

  Broken Arrow: A base or fort that has been overrun by the enemy

  BRU: Boresight Reticule Unit

  C-17: RAF transport plane

  CAG: Combined Air Ground

  Calibre: The inside diameter of the barrel of a weapon

  Carbine: Short-barrelled SA80 with an additional grip at the front - used by Apache pilots and tank crews - 5.56 mm automatic

  CAS: Close Air Support

  Casevac: Casualty Evacuation

  CH47: Chinook - a large wide-bodied helicopter with two rotors on the top. Used by many countries for carrying troops - may also carry equipment inside or underslung below.

  Chicken fuel: Just enough fuel to make it back direct and land with the minimum fuel allowance

  Chicken plate: Triangular armoured plate to shield the vital organs within the chest cavity from bullets and shrapnel

  Chippies: De Havilland Chipmunk T10 training aircraft

  Choke point: A point where a natural narrowing occurs in a route - like a bottleneck.

  CMDS: Counter Measures Dispensing System

  CO: Commanding Officer - Lieutenant Colonel in charge of a regiment, battalion or the Joint Helicopter Force

  Collective lever: The flying control to the left-hand side of the pilot’s seat; held in the left hand; when raised the Apache climbs and when lowered it descends

  ComAO: Combined Air Operation

  Co-op: Co-operative rocket shoot - both of the Apache’s crew working together to fire the rockets at the target

  Cow: Taliban slang for the Chinook helicopter

  Crabs: Slang term for the RAF

  CRV7: Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7 - the Apache’s rockets

  CTAF Net: Common Tactical Air Frequency Net

  CTR: Conversion To Role

  CTT: Conversion To Type

  Cyclic stick: The flying control between the pilot’s legs, held by the right hand and used to speed up, slow down, dive and turn the Apache

  Danger close: The proximity to a weapon’s effect that is considered the last safe point when wearing body armour and combat helmet

  Dasht-e-Margo: Desert of Death

  DC: District Centre - the commercial/political/military centre of a particular area. Usually a building that once held power

  Deliberate Operations: Preplanned operations like escort missions and deliberate strikes

  Delta Hotel: Phonetic alphabet for DH - air speak for Direct Hit - call made when a weapon system hits its intended target accurately

  Dfac: American Dining Facility

  Dishdash: Loose kaftan-style outfit worn by many Afghan men

  DoS: Days of Supply

  DTV: Day television - black and white TV image generated from the day camera in the TADS

  DVO: Direct View Optics

  ECM: Electronic Counter Measures

  ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

  ETD: Estimated Time of Departure

  EWI: Electronic Warfare Instructor

  Excon: Exercise Control

  FAC: Forward Air Control/Controller

  FARMC: Fuel, Ammunition, Rockets, Missiles, Countermeasures (farm-c)

  Fast air: Offensive military jet aircraft

  FCR: Fire Control Radar - the Apache’s Longbow radar

  Fenestron: A tail rotor that is housed in a Venturi

  FIBUA: Fighting In a Built-Up Area

  Flares: Hot flares fired to attract heat-seeking missiles, luring them away from the Apache

  Flechette: Five-inch tungsten darts fired from a rocket travelling above Mach 3.3

  Flick: Military slang. When something has been signed over to you and you are held accountable for it

  FLIR: Forward Looking Infrared - Sights that generate a thermal picture - an image produced by an object’s heat source above absolute zero

  FOB: Forward Operating Base

  Frag: Fragments of hot metal that break away from a shell when it explodes

  FRV: Final Rendezvous point

  GAFA: Great Afghan Fuck All - Dasht-e-Margo - the Desert of Death

  Gazelle: British Army helicopter - generally employed for training, liaison and reconnaissance

  GMPG: British Forces General Purpose Machine Gun - 7.62 mm bipod machine gun

  GPS: Global Positioning System - satellite navigation equipment

  Greenie tech: Nickname for an aviation technician. Aviation technicians are responsible for all electrical equipment on an aircraft

  Green Zone: Lush habitation of irrigated fields, hedgerows, trees and small woods on either side of the Helmand River, bordered by arid deserts

  Ground crew: People who work with aircraft when they are on the ground, but not technicians

  Groundie: Military slang for ground crew

  Ground school: Academic lessons on flying and all to do with flying: meteorology, law, engines, etc.

  Gunship: An aircraft that has the capability of firing its cannon/s from the side instead of having to strafe head-on

  Gun tape: The video tape put into an Apache that records what the selected sight sees

  HALS: Hardened Aircraft Landing Strip: small runway

  Harrier: British designed military jet aircraft capable of Vertical Short Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) - often called the ‘Jump Jet’

  HEDP: High Explosive Dual Purpose (Hedpee) - 30 mm cannon rounds

  Height: The height above the ground expressed in feet

  HEISAP: High Explosive Incendiary Semi-Armour Piercing (high-sap) - kinetic rocket fired by the Apache

  Hellfire: AGM-114K SAL (Semi-Active Laser) Hellfire is a laser-guided Hellfire missile fitted to the Apache

  Hesco Bastion: Square metal meshed cubes lined with hessian and filled with rubble and/or sand. Used as defensive ramparts to protect bases and platoon houses from fire

  H Hour: The moment offensive action begins - first bullet, bomb or the moment troops walk towards their intended target to attack

  HIDAS: Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System - protection from SAMs

  HIG: Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin - major group of the old Mujahideen with ties to Osama bin Laden

  HLS: Helicopter Landing Site

  HMD: Helmet Mounted Display

  Hot: Air speak for clearance or acknowledgement that live bombs can be dropped

  HQ: Headquarters - the nerve centre for planning and execution of operations

  HRF: Helmand Reaction Force - two Apaches and a Chinook full of soldiers on standby at Bastion used to bolster any troops on the ground quickly

  IAT: Image Auto-Track

  IAT: International Air Tattoo. Now RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo)

  Icom: A make of radio scanner used by coalition and the Taliban to monitor each other’s transmissions

  ID: Identification

  IDM: Improved Data Modem

  IED: Improvised Explosive Device - home-made bombs or multiple mines strapped together

  IEFAB: Improved Extended Forward Avionics Bay (eefab) The slabs that stick out either side of Longbow Apaches below the cockpits

  IntO: Intelligence Officer

  IOC: Initial Operating Capability

  IPT: Integrated Project Team

  IRA: Irish Republican Army - Northern Irish paramilitary group

  IRT: Incident Response Team - Apaches, Chinooks, doctors, med
ics and Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) responsible for the immediate recovery of personnel in danger or injured

  ISAF: International Security Assistance Force - multinational military force in Afghanistan

  ISTAR: Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance

  JDAM: Joint Direct Attack Munition - inertial navigation and GPS guidance system bolted onto a 500 to 2000-lb bomb to make it an accurate all-weather weapon

  JHC: Joint Helicopter Command - the UK-based command headquarters and operating authority for all British military helicopters in the UK and abroad

  JHF: Joint Helicopter Force

  JHF(A): Joint Helicopter Force Afghanistan - ‘Main’ at Kandahar and ‘Forward’ at Camp Bastion - the Afghanistan helicopter headquarters operating under authority of the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC)

  JOC: Joint Operations Cell - the functioning control centre of operations in the Helmand province

  JTAC: Joint Terminal Attack Controller (Jaytac) - soldier responsible to his commander for the deliverance of air ordnance from combat aircraft onto a target. The airspace controller for a battle, normal callsign is Widow

  KAF: Kandahar Airfield

  KIA: Killed In Action

  Klick: military slang for kilometre

  LAV: Light Armoured Vehicles. Canadian 8x8 wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier

  Leakers: Taliban that are attempting to escape (leak) from a target area

  L-Hour: The moment the first helicopter lands on an LS during an operation

  Lima Charlie: Phonetic alphabet for LC - air speak for Loud and Clear

  Loadie: Loadmaster responsible for passengers and equipment in military troop-carrying helicopters or transport aircraft. Often mans one of the crew-served guns

  LOAL: Lock-On After Launch (low-al) - missile is launched then it acquires a laser lock

  LOBL: Lock-on Before Launch (lobel) - the missile locks onto the laser energy when it is still on the Apache

  Longbow: The Longbow radar is the Apache’s Fire Control Radar. It looks like a large Swiss cheese and sits on top of the main rotor system

  LOS: Line of Sight

  LS: Landing Site - any unprepared Helicopter Landing Site

  LSJ: Life Support Jacket - survival waistcoat - escape jacket

  LWRS: Laser Warning Receiving System

  Lynx Mk7: British Army anti-tank helicopter armed with missiles on each side

  ManPADS: Man Portable Aid Defence System - shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile

  MAWS: Missile Approach Warning System

  Max chat: As fast as possible

  MC: Military Cross - awarded in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.

  MIA: Missing In Action

  Mission Net: An encrypted frequency used to coordinate the mission during operations

  MoD: Ministry of Defence

  Monocle: The pink see-through glass mirror over an Apache pilot’s right eye that displays green symbology and images from the onboard computers and sights

  Mosquito: Taliban slang for the Apache

  MPD: Multi-Purpose Display - one of two five-inch screens on the console in each Apache cockpit

  MPOG: Minimum pitch applied to the main rotor blades when on the ground

  MPSM: Multi-Purpose Sub-Munition

  Mujahideen: Afghan opposition groups - fought the Soviets during the Soviet invasion and each other in the Afghan Civil War - plural for the word mujahid meaning ‘struggler’

  Multiple: A Northern Ireland patrol consisting of two or more bricks

  MWR: Moral, Welfare and Recreation. Large US facility in which to unwind with the freely provided games, refreshments, TVs, Cinema, computers, gaming stations, DVDs and the internet

  NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

  Negative: Air speak for ‘no’

  Negative Lima: No laser

  Nimrod: A long-range maritime patrol aircraft modified for surveillance

  NVG: Night Vision Goggles - night sights that magnify light by 40,000 times

  OC: Officer Commanding - major in charge of a squadron or company group

  OP: Observation Position

  Ops: Operations - as in Ops tent, Ops room, Ops Officer or literally an operation

  ORT: Optical Relay Tube - the large console in the front seat with PlayStation-type grips on either side

  Pairs fire-and-manoeuvre: One static soldier aiming or shooting whilst his buddy manoeuvres to a position forward or backwards of him. They swap roles and do this continually manoeuvring with one foot on the ground at all times

  Para: Nickname for a soldier from the Parachute Regiment or the Regiment itself

  Pathfinder Platoon: a small unit designed and trained to fight behind enemy lines; 16 Air Assault Brigade’s equivalent of the SAS

  Pax: Official military term for people

  P-check: Northern Ireland term for checking the details of a car from its number plate

  PFL: Practice Forced Landing - practising landing without the use of any engines

  PID: Positive Identity

  Pinzgauer: Small 4x4 all-terrain utility truck

  PNVS: Pilot’s Night Vision System (Pinvis) - the thermal camera that sits above the TADS on the Apache’s nose

  Port: Left-hand side of an aircraft or vessel

  PRT: Provincial Reconstruction Team

  PMI: Power Margin Indicator

  QHI: Qualified Helicopter Instructor - flying instructor

  RA: Royal Artillery

  RAD: Ram Air Decelerator

  Radome: A dome that shrouds a radar head

  RAF: Royal Air Force

  Rearm: Reload the Apache with ammunition

  Red Top: Gazelles painted anti-collision Day-Glo red, flown by range officers whose job is to ensure that troops, vehicles and aircraft are within safety limits

  Replen: Military slang for replenishment

  RF: Radio Frequency

  RIP: Relief In Place - Apache flights handing over the battle between each other, maintaining support to the ground troops

  RMP: Royal Military Police - British Military Police

  RoC: Rehearsal of Concept

  ROE: Rules Of Engagement - law set by a country’s government laying down the rules governing how arms are brought to bear

  ROZ: Restricted Operating Zone

  RPG: Rocket Propelled Grenade - shoulder-launched rocket with a powerful grenade warhead on the front

  RQHI: Regiment’s Qualified Helicopter Instructor

  RTA: Road Traffic Accident

  RTB: Return To Base

  RTM322: Rolls-Royce engines for the Apache

  RTS: Release To Service - the document that details what can and can’t be done with the Apache regarding flight, firing, etc.

  RV: Rendezvous - designated meeting place

  RWR: Radar Warning Receiver

  SA80: British Forces rifle - 5.56 mm automatic

  SAL: Semi-Active Laser

  SAM: Surface-to-Air missile

  SAS: Special Air Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the British Army

  SBS: Special Boat Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the Royal Navy

  Scratcher: Military slang for bed

  SF: Special Forces - e.g. SAS and SBS

  SFI: Senior Flying Instructor

  Sitrep: Situational Report

  Starboard: Right-hand side of an aircraft or vessel

  Stinger: US-designed Surface-to-air ManPADs (Man Portable Air

  Defence System) Missile. Taliban slang for any shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile

  SupFAC: Supervisory Forward Air Controller

  SWO: Squadron Weapons Officer

  Symbology: Flying and targeting information beamed onto the monocle

  T-33: Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. An old military jet built under licence by the Canadians and renamed the CT-133 Silver Star

  TA: Territorial Army

  TADS: Ta
rget Acquisition and Designation Sight - the ‘bucket’ on the nose of the Apache that houses the Apache’s cameras

  Taliban: Collective term used in this book for Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)

  Tanky: A member of one of the tank Regiments - tank commander, driver or gun loader

  TFAD: Task Force Availability Date

  Theatre: Country or area in which troops are conducting operations

  Thirty mike mike: Military slang for thirty millimetre or the Apache’s cannon rounds

  Thirty mil: Alternative name for thirty mike mike

  TOC: Tactical Operations Cell

  Topman: Callsign for the British Harrier

  TOW: Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided missile - fired from the British Army Lynx helicopter

  Tracer: Bullets that burn with a red, orange or green glow from 110 metres to 1,100 metres so that they can be seen

  TSD: Tactical Situational Display

  UFD: Up Front Display - an LED instrument that displays critical information to the Apache crews

  USAF: United States Air Force

  Venturi: A tubed duct that changes pressure to speed air up

  VP: Vulnerable Position

  WAH-64D: British version of the Apache

  WI: Weapons Instructor

  Widow: Callsign for JTACs in Afghanistan

  Wildman: British Apache callsign from May 2006 to October 2006

  Wingman: The other aircraft in any pair of aircraft

  WMIK: Weapons Mounted Installation Kit - an odd-looking Land Rover with bars all over it to which weapons can be attached

  WO1: Warrant Officer Class One - a soldier who holds a Royal Warrant is known as Warrant Officer; Class One is the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army

  WO2: Warrant Officer Class Two

  Zero-zero: A term used to describe a specific type of approach to land in a helicopter

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I owe a great debt of gratitude to Captain Paul Mason, Army Air Corps, the Apache guru who (as he constantly reminds me) taught me all I knew. You were an inspiration to me Paul.

  My sincere thanks to the Attack Helicopter Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Turner AAC, and the Director of Army Aviation, Brigadier David Short CBE ADC, for their support throughout, and for letting me tell it the way it was.

  A special thank you to Paula Edwards at the MoD for her habitually elegant tightrope act.

  The dedication, time, enthusiasm and friendship of the HarperCollins team has been nothing short of monumental. John Bond and Arabella Pike, thank you for believing in me.