James Barrington - Foxbat

FiveSee ‘MI5’

Flat FaceLong-range C-band radar that forms part of the SA-2 SAM system

Flight LevelHeight 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)

FlycoFlying 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 FireNATO reporting name for the very powerful RP-25M Saphir radar carried by the Russian MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor

FoxbatSee ‘MiG-25’

G-locG-induced loss of consciousness. Caused by excessive g-force that drains blood away from the brain

GBU-28American bunker-busting bomb

GCHQGovernment Communications Headquarters. Britain’s principal electronic intelligence-gathering service, based at Cheltenham

GIA Groupe Islamique Armé . Radical Islamic terrorist group operating in Algeria

GPSGlobal Positioning System. Satellite navigation equipment

GR9Designation 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

GuardMilitary UHF emergency frequency of 243.0 megahertz. The equivalent civil VHF frequency is 121.5 megahertz

GWOGroup Warfare Officer

HawkeyeSee ‘E-2C’

Head-shedSAS slang term for the Regiment’s headquarters at Hereford. Also known as ‘The Kremlin’

Herky-birdSlang term for a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Also known as a ‘Fat Albert’

HIFRHelicopter 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

HomerA radar console manned by a specialist Air Traffic Control officer on a CVS-class aircraft carrier

HUDHead-Up Display

IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

IAP Istrebitel’nyi Aviatsion’nyi Polk (Fighter Aviation Regiment). Russian air-defence interceptor squadron

ICBMIntercontinental Ballistic Missile

INGPSInertial Navigation/Global Positioning System fitted to the GR9 Harrier

JARICJoint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre. The Royal Air Force’s photographic interpretation unit, located at RAF Brampton, near Huntingdon

JICJoint Intelligence Center. Intelligence collection and collation facility on a US aircraft carrier

JTIDSJoint Tactical Information Distribution System. Secure electronic data dissemination system that links airborne assets with surface units

KeyholeAmerican KH-11 or KH-12 reconnaissance satellite

KH-12Type of surveillance satellite normally known as ‘Keyhole’

KilotonYield 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

KyoceraMake of satellite telephone

LegolandSee ‘Vauxhall Cross’

Little FRoyal Navy Lieutenant Commander (Flying)

MachMeasure 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

MaverickAGM-65 air-to-surface tactical missile

MI5Military 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’)

MI6See ‘SIS’

MiG-25Mikoyan-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

MIRVMultiple Independently-targeted Re-entry Vehicle. System of multiple warheads contained within a single missile’s nose-cone, and often including decoys

Mode CharlieAutomated height readout that forms part of an aircraft’s SSR fit. See also ‘Squawk’

MPCDMulti-Purpose Crystal Display. Part of the GR9 Harrier’s HUD

MREMeal, Ready-to-Eat. US Army field ration

MVDMinisterstvo Vnutrennikh Del. Actually the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but normally used to mean the Russian police force

NBCDNuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence

NISNational Intelligence Service. South Korea’s intelligence agency

NMCCNational Military Command Center, located in the Joint Staff area of the Pentagon

NOFORNNo Foreign Nationals. CIA acronym restricting sight of a document to American citizens

NORADNorth 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-PICNational Photographic Interpretation Center. Part of the Science and Technology Directorate of the CIA and based at Building 213 in the Washington Navy Yard

NSANational Security Agency. America’s extremely secretive electronic intelligence agency, analogous to Britain’s GCHQ. Sometimes known as ‘No Such Agency’

NVGNight Vision Goggles

ODNIOffice of the Director of National Intelligence

OHPOverhead projector

OPObservation Point

Oplan 5027The ‘master plan’ conceived by South Korea and America to repel a North Korean invasion

OrbitronA satellite-tracking program available for free download from the Polish website www.stoff.pl

PAC-2/PAC-3See ‘Patriot’

PatriotPatriot Advanced Capability versions 2 and 3. A high-performance air-defence guided missile system

Pave PawsAN/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

PigeonsMagnetic 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 PantherSAS Land Rover

PredatorA 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

PriFlyPrimary Flight Control. The location on an American aircraft carrier from which flight operations are supervised

ProwlerSee ‘EA-6B’

RAWRadar Warning Receiver

Reporting namesThe 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