Brevity List

Calling out a contact

Perhaps the single most useful line of all brevity is to let other people know where possible enemies are, in a short and concise manner. Thus we use the format contact (bandit if confirmed hostile), <relative point (you, friendly unit, bullseye)>, <BRA(A)>.

1. Contact / bandit

Contact is typically used if the contact is not yet confirmed hostile, bandit is used when contact is confirmed hostile (either via flight or via AWACS / GCI radar control)

2. Type

If you know aircraft type, feel free to add that to the call out as well

3. Relative point

This is a common point for everyone in the flight to understand; you can use yourself, some other friendly unit (preferably in your flight), a recognizable landmark or the Bullseye (the common point for one side)

3. <BRA(A)>

A mnemonic device for remembering Bearing, Range, Altitude, Aspect to give when calling out target information

So if I have an enemy SU-27 Flanker bearing 270 degrees at 9000 feet and 30 nautical miles away, coming in hot from me, I would call this out to my flight (members) as

'bandit, from me, SU-27, BRA(A) 270 at 9000 for 30, hot'

Equally, I could call out what I think is a unknown plane bearing 120 degrees at 3000 and 50 nautical miles away, going away from my flight lead, as

'contact, from flight lead, unknown, BRA(A) 120 at 3000 for 50, cold'

The BRA(A) is typically said in the call out as well for everyone to remember the format used (it becomes a bit of a Pavlovian reaction, really).

Basic Brevity

This is the most frequently used brevity, and as such would be wise to know from heart or at least have it somewhere as a print-out so you can easily reference it.

Basic Jargon
Navigation / basics
Brevity	Meaning
AOA	Angle of Attack, angle between wind hitting your plane and the root of (centerline through) your wings
AGL	Above Ground Level, obtained from radar altimeter. Moves with ground, such as going over a mountain
Aspect (hot / cold / flanking)	This denotes the attitude of a contact respective to you: hot means he has got his nose on you (and is closing fast), cold means he has his tail on you (nose away, he is trying to run) and flanking means he is heading pure left or right from you
ASL	Above Sea Level, requires you to know altimeter pressure setting for the barometric altimeter readout
Abort (abort abort)	Cease action / attack / event / mission
Bingo	Minimum fuel state needed for recovery to (air)base
BRA(A)	Bearing, Range, Altitude, Aspect format
Break left/right	Move immidiately in the indicated direction, usually to avoid a threat (ie an enemy fighter)
Bearing	Given direction on a compass, for example when spotting a target: contact bearing 190 (degrees)
Course	Actual direction of travel in degrees on compass; North 0°, East 90°, South 180°, West 270°
Heading	Where my aircraft is pointing on a compass, 0 being North, 90 being East, 180 being South, 270 being West
Check six	Look behind you
Combat Spread	Aircraft flying line abreast, with a decent amount of seperation to avoid all getting hit at once (100 - 300 feet)
Call out Contact	Unit detected (ie on your RWR), but not sure if friendly or enemy: call out <relative point (you, friendly unit, bullseye)>, <BRA(A)>,
Level flight	Not climbing or descending
Level wings	Not banking or rolling
Situational Awareness (SA)	Knowing what is going around you at all times: where are enemies, where are friendlies, is my six clear?
Stall	Due to extreme AOA, the maximum lift capability is exceeded, resulting in an abrupt loss of lift
Fence In/Out	Set cockpit switches for entering/exiting combat. Exterior lights off, master arm on, etc.
Weapons
Bandit	Confirmed enemy plane
Buddy	Confirmed friendly plane
Buddy (spike)	Response to 'Raygun'; Friendly unit is actively locking on to me,
Ray Gun	Try to lock up a contact; if somone calls out buddy (spike) you are locking onto a friendly contact
Contact	Unknown if friendly or enemy plane; neutral until further notice
Fox # (short, medium, long)	Shooting a missile
Fox 1	Semi active missile, homes onto reflected radar waves emitted from launch aircraft
Fox 2	Heat seeking missile, homes in on engine heat from the targetted unit
Fox 3	Active missile, first homes on reflected radar like semi-active, then activates its own small radar
Fox 4 / Guns, guns, guns	Firing guns
Nails (type) (o'clock)	RWR Air contact, ie Nails 21 9 o'clock means Mig-21 contact at your left
Spike (type) (o'clock)	RWR Ground contact, ie Spike 15 3 o'clock means SA-15 contact at your right
Pickle	Dropping (un)guided bombs
Rifle	Firing an air-to-ground missile, such as a AGM-65 Maverick
Magnum	Launch of an anti-radition missile, such as an AGM-88 Harm, to kill a SAM site
Bruiser	Firing an anti-ship missile like Harpoon or RB-04.
Maddog	Launch of friendly active radar homing missile, such as the AIM-120, without radar guidance from the launch aircraft. The missile will rely on its own radar to find a target and will generally track the first target it sees.

Master Brevity List

This is the Master Brevity List, with all the various brevity / jargon (call outs) and their meaning in this table. Please do yourself a favour and do not manually search for things, but use the search function (CTRL+F) instead!

Brevity	Meaning
(Number) o´clock	General direction relative to you, as on a clock face: 12 is ahead, 6 is rear, 3 & 9 are left & right
(Rate of) Closure	Relative rate of approaching aircraft, with respect to your own aircraft
(V)ID	Call to identify the target, (Visual) Identification
AAA	Anti-Aircraft Artillery
AAR	Air-to-Air Refueling
Abort (abort abort)	Cease action / attack / event / mission
ACM	Air Combat Maneuvring
Active	Missile that has its own on-board radar transmitter and receiver for targetting
AGL	Above Ground Level, obtained from radar altimeter. Moves with ground, such as going over a mountain
AGM	Air-to-Ground Missile
Alert 5	Aircraft on carrier that are on five minute standby for launch, to provide rapid backup
AMRAAM	Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile
Anchor(ed)	Hold at current / indication position
Angels	Altitude in thousands (1000) of feet: Angels 21 is 21,000 feet
AOA	Angle Of Attack, the relation between the air hitting the plane and the direction of travel
ARM	Anti-Radiation missile
ASL	Above Sea Level, requires you to know altimeter pressure setting for the barometric altimeter readout
Asleep	Enemy SAM is not active and is not expecting friendly units
AWACS	Airborne Warning and Control System
Awake	Enemy SAM isactive and is expecting friendly units
Bandit	Confired enemy
BDA	Battle Damage Assesment, check to see what damage your weapons did
Bearing	Given direction on a compass, for example when spotting a target: contact bearing 123°
Bent	Broken item on the aircraft: 'The radar is bent'
BFM	Basic Fighter Maneuvring
Bingo	Minimum fuel state needed for recovery to (air)base
Bingo on the ball (aka Trick or Treat)	Aircraft is running out of fuel, so this will be last landing attempt, before diverting to a nearby airfield
Bittersweet / blue on blue	Friendly units (accidentally) engaging other friendly units
Blind	No (visual) contact on the target ( / friendly) unit
Bogey	Unidentified aircraft (could be hostile or friendly)
Bogey Dope	Request for target information to nearest (or specified) group, in BRAA
Bolter	Aircraft during carrier landing has failed to catch an arresting wire, thus needing to try and land again
BRA(A)	Bearing, Range, Altitude, (Aspect: Hot, Flanking or Cold)
BRC	Base Recovery Course
Break (direction)	Call to move in indicated direction, in a high G turn
Buddy	Confirmed friendly
Buddy (spike)	Response to 'Raygun'; Friendly unit is actively locking on to me,
Bugout	Moving out in specified direction with no intent to reengage / return
BVR	Beyond Visual Range
CAP	Combat Air Patrol, (supporting other units in the area by) engaging hostiles in air-to-air
CAS	Close Air Support, (supporting other units in the area by) engaging ground targets
CBU	Cluster Bomb Unit (Mk-20 Rockeye, CBU-87, CBU-97)
CCZ	Carrier Controlled Zone
Cease (action)	Discontinue, stop (cease fire means stop shooting)
CG	Center of Gravity
Chaff	Counter measure against radar missiles, kind of similar to glitter on steroids
Check six	Look behind you
Cherubs	Altitude in hundreds (100) of feet: Cherubs 5 is 500 feet
Clara	Pilot has no visual on the 'meatball' or IFLOLS, used for glideslope when landing on a carrier
Cleared Hot	Ordinance release / attack is authorized
Cloak / lights off	Turn off lights so that only NVG lights are shown on the aircraft
Combat Spread	Aircraft flying line abreast, with a decent amount of seperation to avoid all getting hit at once (100 - 300 feet)
Commit	Intercept group of interest, begin the action
Contact	Unit detected at <relative point (you, bullseye, other)>, <BRA>, <hot / cold / flanking>
Contact	Detected unit
Course	Actual direction of travel in degrees on compass; North 0°, East 90°, South 180°, West 270°
Covey Launch	Simultaneous launch of multiple aircraft from the carrier
Cranking	Flanking the enemy whilst keeping them locked up in the gimbal edges of the radar
Danger close	Friendly units are in close proximity of the target and are likely to be in the splash zone of the weapon
Declare	Identify specified group or track(ed target)
Defensive / defending	Maneuvring to avoid threat (typically a missile)
Departing (the envelope)	Leaving / flying outside aircraft limits, aircraft has become uncontrollable
Drag	Any impedance to the aicraft's forward movement through the air
Ease Guns to Land	Pulling the throttles back on carrier landing (never do this)
ECM	Electronic Counter-Measures, to distort the (radar) signals / systems of the enemy
Engage	Commence attack, fire control order
EW	Electronic Warfare
Eyeball	Visual (EO) or infrared acquisition of a target
Faded	Radar contact is lost on previously acquired target
Feet dry	Over land
Feet wet	Over water
Fence	Set cockpit switches as appropriate before entering / exiting the combat area
Fence In	Entering enemy controlled airspace (during mission), set weapons hot
Fence Out	Leaving enemy airspace (during mission), weapons can be set to cold
Fireweall	Push the throttles all the way forward, for maximum engine power output
Flanking	Target is heading in a ± 45 degree angle, in a effort to crank / notch you
Flight	Group of airplanes in a tasking / mission
Flight Envelope	Performance limits of an aircraft
Flight Level (FL)	Identical to Angels; flight altitude in thousands (1000) of feet; FL 50 is 50 000 feet
Fox # (short, medium, long)	Shooting a missile
Fox 1	Semi active missile, homes onto reflected radar waves emitted from launch aircraft
Fox 2	Heat seeking missile, homes in on engine heat from the targetted unit
Fox 3	Active missile, first homes on reflected radar like semi-active, then activates its own small radar
Fox 4 / Guns, guns, guns	Firing guns
Furball / clusterfuck	Indicating known friendly and non-friendly aircraft in close proximity, such as a dogfight
GBU	General purpose Bomb Unit (Mk-82, Mk-82, GBU-12
GCI	Ground Controller Intercept
Gimbal (limit)	Limits on a sensor operating range, such as the radar or targetting pod
Group	Number of targets close together, typically heading in the same direction
Heading	Where my aircraft is pointing on a compass
Hold fire	Do not shoot, destroy already launched missiles / weapons
Hook	Cue sensor (targetting pod, radar) towards the directed target of interest
Hostile	Contact identified as enemy, with clearance to fire
Hot / cold	Hot means the contact has the nose pointed towards you, cold means he is going away from you
HOTAS	Hands On Throttle And Stick
HUD	Heads-Up Display
IFF	Identification Friend or Foe; determining if the target is hostile or friendly
IFR	Instrument Flight Rules: flying with your aircraft instruments in bad weather conditions
ILS	Instrument Landing System
IMC	InterMediate Conditions; bad weather
In the goo	In the clouds, limited visibility
JDAM	Joint Direct Attack Munition, typically GPS guided (GBU-31, GBU-38)
Jink(ing)	Unpredictable maneuvers to negate a tracking solution or lock
JSOW	Joint StandOff Weapon, glidebomb etc. (AGM-154)
Level flight	Not climbing or descending
Level wings	Not banking or rolling
Maddog	Active missile is launched where its radar is immediately turned on, engaging the first target it sees
Magnum	Anti-radiation missile launch
Mark your father / mom	Give position relative to the carrier: aircraft number, bearing and range
Marking	Contrailing (smoking) / In contrailing altitude: typically > 25,000 and < 40,000 feet
Markpoint	Designated point of interest, typically within the datalink / sensor system
Merge(d)	Friendlies and targets are in the same visual arena / geographical location
Mil Power	The maximum amount of thrust from a jet engine without engaging the afterburner
Mother, Boat, Bingo Field	Aircraft Carrier
Mud / Spike	Radar is locking you up, mud denotes ground radar
Music	Use of jamming to deny being locked up, either by you, friend, or foe
Nails	RWR contact in search mode
Naked	No RWR or (radar) information on enemy
No joy	No (visual) contact on the target ( / enemy) unit; opposite of 'Tally'
Notching	Flying perpendicular to the aircraft attacking you with radar (missiles) to try and spoof the radar (missile)
On station	Unit has reached assigned location
Oops	What you say after you let an SU-27 get on your wingman's six o'clock
Orbit(ing	Hold current / indicated position, typically in a circular orbit above the indicated location
Overshoot	Being forced out in front of an opposing aircraft, most likely due to having too much airspeed
Package	Group of different aircraft combined to perform a single mission
Padlocked	Crew cannot takes eyes off the target without losing it
Passive	Receiving signals without needing to emit your own signals to obtain data
Payload	Usefull loadout of an aircraft, including ordinance, fuel, etc.
Pickle	(Cluster / General-purpose) Bomb Unit release
Picture	Request for AWACS to provide air information / air overview relevant to mission
Pitbull	Missile has gone active (turned on its own radar)
Pk	Probability of kill
Pop-up	Units have suddenly appeared
Press	Pushing on to the enemy you are engaging (shortly)
PRF	Pulse Repetition Frequencies
Pucker Factor	Method of rating (dangerous) missions, from 0 to 10 (0 being the lowest, 10 being the highest)
Punch out	To eject from the airplane
Radar (Radio Detection And Ranging)	A pulsed beam of energy used to scan for, detect, and return information about a target
Raygun	Locking up an unknown target, querying the IFF response from friendly units
Rejoin	Return to close formation flight
Rifle	Air to ground missile launch
ROE	Rules Of Engagement, dicates how you are to engage targets (ie return fire only)
RWR	Radar Warning Receiver, reads and presents current radar signals spiking your aircraft
SAM	Surface-to-Air Missile
SAM (direction)	Visual acquisition of SAM in flight or SAM launch, including position reference
Section	Flights are divided into sections of 2 - 3 aircraft (similar to fireteams in a squad)
Semi-active	(Missile) Has its own radar receiver, but targets reflected radar waves / illumination from the host aircraft
Shack	Weapons impact on ground (unit)
Situational Awareness (SA)	Knowing what is going around you at all times: where are enemies, where are friendlies, is my six clear?
Sparkle	Laser Pointer (from a Targetting Pod)
Spike	Threat on the RWR receiver: 'Badger 1-1 has an SA-10 spike at twelve o'clock'
Splash	Enemy target hit
Stack	Two or more contacts are in close together (in a group)
Stall	Due to high / low AOA, the maximum lift capability is exceeded, resulting in an abrupt loss of lift
Status	Report situation
STOVL	Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing
Tally (Ho)	Recognition of an enemy unit; opposite of 'No Joy'
TFR	Terrain Following Radar
TLAR	That Looks About Right; winging it
Trashed	Missile has been defeated
VFR	Visual Flight Rules; fly by your eyesight when it is clear enough to see
Visual	Recognition of an friendly unit or (landmark) object
VTOL	Vertical Take-Off and Landing
Wilco	Will Comply with received instructions
Winchester	No ordinance (missiles, bombs) remaining
WVR	Within Visual Range
Zulu (time)	GMT+0, Greenwich Time