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