Red Phoenix (84 page)

GRU
—
Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye:
Chief Intelligence Directorate, Soviet General Staff. Soviet military intelligence, responsible for collecting information on the military forces of opposing countries.

GSP
—
Gusenichnii Samokhodnii Porom:
The Russian name for a tracked amphibious ferry used to carry tanks and other heavy equipment across a river.

HARM—High Speed Antiradiation Missile:
An air-launched missile designed to home in on enemy surveillance and guidance radars and destroy them.

Harpoon:
The American-made Harpoon missile can be fired from ships, from aircraft, and even from submarines. This versatile antiship missile can carry its 500-pound warhead to targets up to 60 nautical miles away.

HARTs—Hardened Artillery Site:
A type of fortification used by the North Koreans to protect artillery from attack.

HQ:
Headquarters.

HUD
—
Heads Up Display:
Projects important information onto the windscreen directly in front of the pilot’s eyes, making it possible to avoid going “heads down” to look at cockpit instruments. The HUD is a vital aid during a fast-moving air combat. The data displayed on the windscreen includes speed, altitude, weapons status, g forces, target data, and fuel status.

IFF
—
Identification Friend or Foe:
An airplane or ship sends a coded electronic signal out to an unknown contact. A black box on an aircraft, if it receives the proper code, responds with a signal of its own, telling the observer that the aircraft is friendly. Aircraft without the proper codes are the enemy. The codes are changed daily.

Il-18 Coot:
An elderly Russian four-engine airliner. Versions are used by the military and by Aeroflot, the Soviet Union’s civilian airline.

Il-76 Mainstay:
Based on a large, four-engine jet transport, this radar plane has a large saucer radome on top of the fuselage. It can monitor air and sea movements up to several hundred miles away. It is the rough equivalent of the American E-3 Sentry.

INS
—
Inertial Navigation System:
This device keeps track of the user’s position by measuring his movements in three dimensions. The result is most often displayed on a small map or as a latitude and longitude readout. When started, an INS must always be “told” where it is.

IP
—
Initial Point:
A U.S. Air Force term that refers to the geographic location used as the start point for an approach to a target.

ITV
—
Improved TOW vehicle:
This converted M113 armored personnel carrier mounts a two-tube launcher on top to fire TOW antitank missiles. The launcher and its attached sight can be extended several feet into the air, allowing the vehicle to stay hidden while searching for targets.

Jian-7:
The Chinese designation for their copy of the Soviet MiG-21 fighter.

KA-6D tanker:
A modified version of the A-6 Intruder, this plane is fitted with a hose and reel. It is launched from carriers and is used to refuel the other planes in flight after they have been launched.

KATUSA—Korean Attached to U.S. Army:
Term for a South Korean soldier serving as part of an American Army unit.

KGB—
Komitet Gosudatstvennoy Sigurnost:
Committee for State Security. The Soviet organization responsible for the security of the Soviet state inside and outside its own borders. It deals with subversion, espionage, intelligence gathering, and other matters.

LAMPS—Light Airborne Multipurpose System:
See
SH-2F Sea Sprite.

LAW
—
Light Antitank Weapon:
A 66mm rocket in a fiberglass tube, this one-shot, throwaway weapon weighs about five pounds. It has a short range and limited penetrating power, but it gives the individual soldier a powerful one-time “punch” against lightly armored vehicles, bunkers, or buildings.

LOFAR—Low Frequency Analysis:
The sound signature of each submarine is subtly different, and by analyzing the sounds they make a subhunter may be able to determine the nature of his opponent. The term is also used to refer to a class of relatively inexpensive passive sonobuoys dropped from ASW aircraft to listen for enemy submarines.

LRRPs—Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols:
During the Vietnam War, small detachments of soldiers were inserted deep in enemy territory, where they operated alone for extended periods of time. Specially trained, they gathered intelligence and conducted ambushes, sabotage, or assassinations.

M16:
The standard U.S. Army infantry weapon, it is much lighter and smaller than its predecessor, the M14 rifle. The M16 weighs eight and a half pounds. It can be fired on semi or full automatic.

M-48 tank:
This vehicle was first designed in the early 1950s. Mounting a 90mm gun and with a gasoline engine, it was used by American armored units and exported widely. Obsolete since the 1960s, many have been reworked with larger 105mm guns, diesel engines, and improved fire-control systems.

M-60 tank:
The M-60 tank mounts a 105mm gun and served as the U.S. military’s main battle tank for nearly two decades. It is still in service, but is being gradually replaced in front-line units by the M-1 Abrams.

M60 machine gun:
The standard U.S. Army machine gun, it is actually derived from a World War II German design, the MG 42. It weighs 23 pounds and is normally fired from a bipod.

M61 Vulcan:
This revolutionary 20mm cannon revived the “Gatling gun” principle for use as an aircraft weapon. It has a rate of fire of over 3,000 rounds per minute. First appearing in the 1950s, this principle has since been applied to other calibers (see GAU-8).

M-113:
An armored personnel carrier first deployed in 1960, it is little more than a thinly armored box on treads. Armed only with a. 50-caliber machine gun, it remains popular and cheap—despite its inadequate protection. It is being replaced in the U.S. Army by the M-2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

M-577:
A heavily modified version of the M113 armored personnel carrier, it is equipped to serve as a mobile command post.

MAC
—
Military Airlift Command:
Part of the U.S. Air Force, it operates their fleet of transport aircraft and is responsible for ensuring the rapid air movement of U.S. troops and equipment to trouble spots around the globe.

MAD
—
Magnetic Anomaly Detector:
A sensor carried on Navy subhunting aircraft. It detects the distortions in the earth’s magnetic field caused by the presence of several thousand tons of steel making up a submarine’s hull.

Mark 82:
One of a series of low-drag bombs used by the United States and other countries. The Mark 82 weighs 250 pounds, the Mark 83 1,000 pounds, and the Mark 84 2,000 pounds.

MiGs:
“MiG” stands for “Mikoyan and Gureyivich,” whose aircraft designs have been produced since World War II. Other design bureaus have also produced fighter designs, but the MiG series has been the most famous and the most successful. All Russian aircraft have been assigned code names by NATO, since they do not give their aircraft names like “Falcon” or “Eagle.” Fighter code names always begin with
F
, bombers with B, and special-purpose aircraft with M.

MiG-19 UTI:
A twin-engine, single-seat fighter that appeared after the Korean War, the MiG-19 Farmer is an older design that is still fairly maneuverable and has shown that it can take some punishment and still
survive. The “UTI” is the Soviet abbreviation for the two-seat training version.

MiG-21 “Fishbed”:
The MiG-21 is a single-engine, single-seat fighter designed by the Soviets but widely distributed to their allies. Though an older design, it is still a fairly maneuverable aircraft and a dangerous opponent in a close-in dogfight. It carries a primitive radar and radar-guided missiles in addition to heat-seekers and a cannon.

MiG-23 “Flogger”:
The MiG-23 is a single-engine, single-seat fighter also distributed by the Soviets. Very fast, it is a notoriously poor dogfighter. It does have a fairly effective radar and radar-guided missiles to take advantage of that fact.

MiG-29 “Fulcrum”:
A brand-new Soviet fighter that has been heavily exported to their allies. While not quite as good as current U.S. designs, the twin-engined MiG-29 is too close for comfort. It is equipped with a good radar and missile armament.

MLR
—
Main Line of Resistance:
Term for a line defining the forward edge of a military unit’s main defensive position.

MRE
—
Meals Ready to Eat:
The modern replacement for the legendary “C” rations, an MRE is a series of plastic pouches filled with freeze-dried foods. While individual opinions vary, on the whole they are seen as a vast improvement over their predecessors.

NSP
—
National Security Planning Agency:
The new name for the KCIA, or Korean Central Intelligence Agency. This organization is responsible for stopping espionage and subversion threatening the Republic of Korea.

OP—Observation
Post: A small, often concealed, position occupied by one or two men whose mission is to provide early warning of enemy movement.

OV-10D Bronco:
A twin-turboprop observation plane, it was designed during Vietnam to serve as a forward air controller. It has a crew of two and carries a small weapons load of its own.

P-3C Orion:
A four-engine turboprop, this successful design is based on the Lockheed Electra airliner. Instead of passengers, the fuselage carries many different sensors, computers, and a bomb bay full of sonobuoys and homing torpedoes.

PFC:
Private First Class.

PMP
—
Pontonno-Mostovoi Park:
The name for a type of Russian pontoon bridge.

Radar-Guided Missiles:
All air-to-air missiles have some sort of guidance mechanism to help them find the target. The two most common types are infrared, or heat-seeking, systems, such as the AIM-9L Sidewinder, and radar-guided systems, such as the AIM-7M Sparrow. Essentially, radar-guided missiles home in on a target “painted” by a friendly radar. They are longer-ranged than heat-seeking missiles and can usually attack a target from any angle. They are also more complex and cost more to build.

RF-5A:
A reconnaissance variant of the F-5A Freedom Fighter. It is a small, simple, twin-engine fighter with the armament removed and cameras installed in the nose. Its only defense is speed.

RIO
—
Radar Intercept Officer:
The U.S. Navy term for the flight officer in the backseat of a two-seat fighter, such as the F-14 Tomcat or F-4 Phantom II. While the pilot flies the aircraft, the RIO operates the plane’s complex weapons systems.

ROK
—
Republic of Korea:
South Korea.

RORSAT—Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite:
A Russian radar satellite that searches for ships. It can transmit information back to naval headquarters in the Soviet Union or even provide targeting data directly to surface ships or subs with long-range weapons.

RPG
—
Rocket-Propelled Grenade:
Russian designation for a series of simple antitank weapons. The most common is the RPG-7, which is a shoulder-fired weapon with a short range.

RPK:
A Russian designation for a light machine gun of mediocre performance, especially when compared to the U.S. M60 machine gun. It weighs a little over 12 pounds.

R.S.F.S.R.—Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic:
The largest of the fifteen republics making up the Soviet Union. The R.S.F.S.R. contains more than half the Soviet population and three-quarters of the nation’s territory. It stretches from the Baltic Sea in the west to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in the east—including all of Siberia.

RTO—Radio Telephone Operator:
Any soldier assigned to carry and operate a unit’s radio. He is usually found near the officers.

S-60:
The designation for a Russian-designed twin 57mm antiaircraft gun. They are normally deployed in batteries of six or regiments of twenty-four. The guns are radar-guided.

SA-2 Guideline:
An elderly Soviet antiaircraft missile. The “SA” stands for “surface to air.” It is designed to engage high-altitude targets.

SA-7 Grail:
A small, shoulder-fired missile with a heat-seeker. It can engage low-altitude targets at close range. A later version, the SA-14 Gremlin, has improved performance.

SA-8 Gecko:
A newer, mobile antiaircraft missile, it can engage aircraft at low and medium altitude. It is completely self-sufficient, with the radar and missiles mounted on an amphibious wheeled vehicle.

SA-N-8:
A naval version of the shoulder-fired SA-14 Gremlin, it is a short-range, heat-seeking antiaircraft missile.

Sabot:
Technically the French word for “shoe,” it is also the name for an armor-piercing tank shell. A small superheavy tungsten alloy or depleted-uranium penetrator is fixed to a larger boot, the sabot, which is the same size as the tank’s main gun barrel. When the round is fired, the boot falls away as it leaves the barrel, freeing the penetrator for its fight to the target.

SACEUR—Supreme Allied Commander in Europe:
A NATO command, the billet is occupied by a four-star general who would command all NATO forces in Europe in wartime.

SAM
—
Surface-to-Air Missile:
A general term applied to any missile used to shoot at aircraft.