ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS
A , B , C , D , E , F , G , H , I , J , K , L , M , N , O , P , Q , R , S , T , U , V , W , X , Y , Z , 1-3etc
a Acceleration or atto (10-18 multiplier)
A Ampere, Area, Altitude, Angstrom (), Antenna Aperture, or Aerial (U.K.)
A-799 No evidence of failure report
A/A, A-A, AA Air-to-Air or Anti-Aircraft
AA-() Air-to-Air missile number ()
AAA Anti-Aircraft Artillery
AAAA Army Aviation Association of America
AAED Advanced Airborne Expendable Decoy
AAM Air-to-Air Missile
AARGM Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (concept)
AAW Anti-Air Warfare
A-BIT Automatic Built-in-Test
ABM Air Breathing Missile or Anti-ballistic Missile
A/C Aircraft (also acft.)
AC Alternating Current
ACA Associate Contractor Agreement or Airspace Coordination Area
ACAT Acquisition Category
ACCB Aircraft Configuration Control Board
Acft Aircraft (also A/C)
ACLS Aircraft Carrier Landing System
ACM Advanced Cruise Missile or Air Combat Maneuvering
ACQ Acquisition
ACS Antenna Coupler Set
ACTD Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
A/D Analog to Digital
Ada Not an acronym. Ada is the DoD standard programming language.
ADM Advanced Development Model
ADP Automatic Data Processing or Advanced Development Program
ADVCAP Advanced Capability
AEC Aviation Electronic Combat (Army)
AEGIS Automatic Electronic Guided Intercept System
AEL Accessible Emission Limit
AEW Airborne Early Warning
AF Antenna Factor, Air Force, or Audio Frequency
AFB Air Force Base or Airframe Bulletin
AFC Automatic Frequency Control or Airframe Change
AFIPS Automated Financial Information Processing System
AFOTEC Air Force Operational T&E Center
A/G Air-to-Ground
AGB Autonomous Guided Bomb
AGC Automatic Gain Control
AGI Auxiliary General Intelligence (Intelligence-gathering Ship)
AGL Above Ground Level
AGM Air-to-Ground Missile
AGS Angle Gate Stealer
AHWS Advanced Helicopter Weapons System
AI Artificial Intelligence, Air Intercept, or Airborne Interceptor
AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
AIC Air Intercept Control
AIM Air Intercept Missile
AIRLANT Commander, U.S. Naval Air Forces, Atlantic Fleet
AIRPAC Commander, U.S. Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet
AJ Anti-jamming or Anti-Jam
A-Kit Aircraft wiring kit for a system (includes cabling, racks, etc.
excluding WRAs)
AM Amplitude Modulation
AMD Aircraft Maintenance Department
AMES Advanced Multiple Environment Simulator
AMLV Advanced Memory Loader/Verifier
Amp Amplifier
AMRAAM Advanced, Medium-Range, Air-to-Air Missile
ANSI American National Standards Institute
ANT Antenna
Ao Operational Availability
AO Acousto-Optical
AOA Angle of Arrival, Angle of Attack, or Analysis of Alternatives
(similar to COEA)
AOC Association of Old Crows (Professional EW Society) or Award of Contract
AOT Angle Only Track, Angle Off Tail, or Acquisition-on-Target
APC Amphenol Precision Connector or Armored Personnel Carrier
APN Aircraft Procurement, Navy
APO Armed Forces Post Office, Army Post Office, Air Post Office, or
Acquisition Program Office
APU Auxiliary Power Unit
AR Anti-reflection or Aspect Ratio
ARM Anti-radiation Missile
ARO After Receipt of Order
A/S, A-S, AS Air-to-Surface
ASCM Anti-ship Cruise Missile
ASE Aircraft Survivability (or Survival) Equipment, Allowable Steering
Error, or Automatic Support Equipment
ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
ASK Amplitude Shift Keying
ASM Air-to-Surface Missile
ASO Aviation Supply Office
A-Spec System Specification
ASPJ Airborne Self-Protection Jammer
ASPO Avionics Support (also Systems) Project Office (also Officer)
ASR Advanced Special Receiver or Airport/Airborne Surveillance Radar
ASRAAM Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile
ASTE Advanced Strategic and Tactical Expendables
ASW Anti-submarine Warfare
ATA Advanced Tactical Aircraft
ATARS Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System
ATC Air Traffic Control
ATD Advanced Technology Demonstration
ATE Automatic Test Equipment
ATEDS Advanced Technology Expendables and Dispenser Systems
ATF Advanced Tactical Fighter
ATIMS Airborne Turret Infrared Measurement System or Airborne Tactical
Information Management System
ATIRCM Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures
ATP Acceptance Test Procedure
ATR Autonomous Target Recognition, Airborne Transportable Rack
ATRJ Advanced Threat Radar Jammer
AUTODIN Automatic Digital Network
AUTOVON Automatic Voice Network (now DSN)
AUX Auxiliary
avdp. Avoirdupois (system of measures)
Avg Average
AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System
AZ Azimuth (also Az)
B Bandwidth (also BW) or Magnetic inductance
BAFO Best and Final Offer
BATBULL Bat Bulletin - former VX-9 tactics newsletter, now called "On Target"
BAU Bus Adapter Unit
BC Bus Controller
BDA Battle Damage Assessment
BDI Battle Damage Indication
BFO Beat Frequency Oscillator
BI Background Investigation
BIFF Battlefield Identification, Friend, or Foe
BIT Built-in-Test, Binary Digit (the smallest unit of information
in a binary system), or Battlefield Information Technology
BITE Built-in-Test Equipment
BIU Bus Interface Unit
B-Kit The "Black Boxes" (WRAs) which compose a particular avionics system
B/N Bombardier/Navigator
BNC Bayonet Navy Connector
BOA Basic Ordering Agreement
BOL Swedish acronym for a chaff dispenser in a launcher
BPF Band Pass Filter
BPS Bits Per Second
BUMED Bureau of Medicine (Navy)
BUNO Bureau Number (aircraft)
BUR Bottom Up Review
BVR Beyond Visual Range
BW Beamwidth (referring to an antenna) or sometimes Bandwidth (also B,
referring to a receiver)
BWA Backward Wave Amplifier
BWO Backward Wave Oscillator
c Speed of Light = 3x108 meters/sec =
1.8x1012 furlongs per fortnight or
1.8 terafurlongs per fortnight, or centi (10-2) multiplier
C Electron Charge, Coulomb, Capacitance, Celsius, Centigrade, Confidential,
Roman numeral for 100, or a programming language (also C+ and C++)
C2 Command and Control
C3 Command, Control, and Communications
C3CM C3-Countermeasures
C3I Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence
CAD Computer-Aided Design
CAE Computer-Aided Engineering
CAG Carrier Air Group
CAGE Commercial and Government Entry
CAIV Cost as an Independent Variable
CAL Calibration
CAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing or Constant Addressable Memory
CAO Competency Aligned Organization or Contract Administrative Officer
CAP Combat Air Patrol
CAS Close Air Support or Calibrated Airspeed
CASS Consolidated Automated Support System
CAT Catapult or Cockpit Automation Technology
CB Citizens Band (also see Seabee)
CBD Commerce Business Daily
CBIT Continuous Built-in-Test
CBO Congressional Budget Office
CCA Circuit Card Assembly
CCB Configuration Control Board
CCD Charge Coupled Device
CCM Counter-Countermeasures
CCN Contract Change Number or Configuration Change Notice
CCU Cockpit Control Unit
cd Candela (SI unit of luminous intensity)
CD Compact Disk or Control and Display
CDC Combat Direction Center
CDR Critical Design Review
CDRL Contract Data Requirements List
CE Conducted Emission
CECOM Communications and Electronics Command (Army)
CEP Circular Error Probability
CFA Cognizant Field Activity
CFAR Constant False Alarm Rate
CFE Contractor Furnished Equipment
CG Center of Gravity, Commanding General, Command Guidance, or Cruiser
CI Configuration Item
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CIC Combat Information Center (now called CDC)
CID Combat Identification or Charge Injection Device
CILOP Conversion in Lieu of Procurement
CINC Commander in Chief
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States (11 of 15 former Soviet Union
territories except Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, and Lithuania)
CIWS Close-In Weapon System
CJ Coherent Jamming
CLC Command Launch Computer
cm Centimeter
CM Countermeasures or Configuration Management
CMC Command Mission Computer or Commandant Marine Corps
CMDS Countermeasure Dispensing System
CMOS Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CMP Configuration Management Plan
CMWS Common Missile Warning System
CNAL Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT)
CNAP Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific (COMNAVAIRPAC)
CNI Communications, Navigation, and Identification
CO Commanding Officer, Contracting Officer, Change Order, or Carbon Monoxide
COB Close of Business
COEA Cost and Operational Effectiveness Analysis
COG Center of Gravity or Cognizant
COMM Communications
COMSEC Communications Security
CONSCAN Conical Scanning Radar
CONUS Continental United States
CO-OP Cooperative (countermeasures)
Cos Cosine
COSRO Conical-Scan on Receive Only
COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf (hardware/software)
CP Circularly Polarized (antenna), Central Processor, or Command Post
CPS Computer or Control Power Supply (depends on application)
CPU Central Processing Unit
CRC Originally Chemical Rubber Company, now published reference books
by CRC Press
CRFM Coherent RF Memory
CRISD Computer Resources Integrated Support Document
CRLCMP Computer Resources Life Cycle Management Plan
CRO Countermeasures Response Optimization
CRT Cathode Ray Tube or Combat Rated Thrust (afterburner)
Crypto Cryptographic
CS Conducted Susceptibility
CSC Commodity Software Change
CSCI Computer Software Configuration Item
C-Spec Product Specification
CSS Contractor Support Services
CV Aircraft Carrier
CVA Older designation for Attack Carrier
CVN Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier
CVR Crystal Video Receiver
CW Continuous Wave or Chemical Warfare
CWBS Contract Work Breakdown Structure
CWI Continuous Wave Illuminator
CY Calendar Year
d Distance, Diameter, or deci (10-1 multiplier)
D Distance, Diameter, Electron displacement, Detectivity, Doppler, Density,
or Roman numeral for 500
da deca (100 multiplier)
D/A Digital-to-Analog
DAB Defense Acquisition Board
DAC Digital to Analog Converter or Dept of Army Civilian
DAR Defense Acquisition Regulation
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DB Database
dB Decibel
dBc dB referenced to the Carrier Signal
dBi Decibel antenna gain referenced to an isotropic antenna
dBm Decibel referenced to the power of one milliwatt
DBOF Defense Business Operations Fund
dBsm Decibel value of radar cross section referenced to a square meter
dBW Decibel referenced to the power of one watt
DC Direct Current, Discrete Circuit, or District of Columbia
DCE Data Communication Equipment
DDI Digital Display Indicator
DDS Direct Digital Synthesizers
DECM Deceptive Electronic Countermeasures (also Defensive ECM)
DEW Directed Energy Weapon or Defense Early Warning
DJ Deceptive Jamming
deg Degree
DEMVAL Demonstration Validation (also DEM/VAL)
DET Detachment
DF Direction Finding
DFT Discrete Fourier Transform
DI Data Item
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency or Diameter
DID Data Item Description
DIRCM Directed Infrared Countermeasures
D-Level Depot Level Maintenance
DM Data Management (also manager)
DMA Direct Memory Address or Defense Mapping Agency
DME Distance Measuring Equipment
DNA Defense Nuclear Agency, Does Not Apply, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid
DOA Direction of Arrival
DOD or DoD Department of Defense
DoDISS DoD Index of Specifications and Standards
DOM Depth of Modulation
DON Department of the Navy
DOS Disk Operating System
DPRO Defense Plant Representative Office
DRB Defense Review Board
DRFM Digital RF Memory
DSARC Defense Systems Acquisition (and) Review Council
DSN Defense Switching Network
DSO Dielectrically Stabilized Oscillator
DSP Digital Signal Processor
D-Spec Process Specification
DT (&E) Development or Developmental Test (and Evaluation)
DTC Design to Cost
DTE Data Terminal Equipment
DTO Digitally Tuned Oscillator or Defense Technology Objectives
e Electron charge or base of natural logarithms (2.71828...)
E Electric Field Intensity or Strength, Energy, East, or Exa (1018
multiplier)
E3 Electromagnetic Environmental Effects
EA Electronic Attack (similar to older term of ECM)
EC Electronic Combat
ECAC Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Center (DOD), now
Joint Spectrum Center
ECCM Electronic Counter-Countermeasures (similar to newer term of EP)
ECL Emitter Coupled Logic
ECM Electronic Countermeasures (similar to newer term of EA)
ECN Engineering Change Notice
ECO Engineering Change Order
ECP Engineering Change Proposal or Egress Control Point
ECR Electronic Combat Range (China Lake) or Electronic Combat &
Reconnaissance
ECS Environmental Control System
ECSEL Electronic Combat Simulation and Evaluation Laboratory (NAWCWPNS)
ECU Electronic Control Unit
EDM Engineering Development Model
EED Electro-Explosive Device
EEPROM Electrically Erasable/Programmable Read-only Memory
EHF Extremely High Frequency [30 to 300 GHz]
EIA Electronic Industries Associates
EID Emitter Identification Data
EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated power
EL Elevation (also El)
ELF Extremely Low Frequency [3 Hz to 3 KHz]
ELINT Electronics Intelligence
ELNOT Emitter Library Notation
EM Electromagnetic
E-Mail Electronic Mail
EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility
EMCAB EMC Advisory Board
EMCON Emission Control
EMD Engineering and Manufacturing Development
EME Electromagnetic Environment
EMI Electromagnetic Interference
EMP Electromagnetic Pulse
EMR Electromagnetic Radiation
EMS Electromagnetic Susceptibility
EMV Electromagnetic Vulnerability
EO Electro-Optic, Electro-Optical, or Engineering Order
EOB Electronic Order of Battle or Expense Operating Budget
EOCM Electro-Optic Countermeasures
EOF Electro-Optical Frequency (300 to 3 x 107 GHz)
EP Electronic Protection (similar to older terms of DECM or ECCM)
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPROM Electrically Programmable Read-only Memory
ERAM Electronic Counter-Countermeasures (also Protection) Requirements and
Assessment Manual
ERP Effective Radiated Power
ES Electronic Surveillance (similar to older term of ESM)
ESD Electrostatic Discharge
ESM Electronic Support Measures (similar to newer term of ES)
ESSM Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile
ET Electronics Technician
ETI Elapsed Time Indicator
ETR Estimated Time to Repair
EW Electronic Warfare or Early Warning
EWAT Electronic Warfare Advanced Technology
EWIR Electronic Warfare Integrated Reprogramming (USAF database)
EWMP Electronic Warfare Master Plan
EWO Electronic Warfare Officer
EWOPFAC Electronic Warfare Operational Reprogramming Facility
EWRL Electronic Warfare Reprogrammable Library (USN)
EWSI EW Systems Integration
EWSSA EW Software Support Activity
EXP Expendable Countermeasure
f femto (10-15 multiplier), Frequency (also F), or lens f
number
F Frequency (also f), Force, Farad, Faraday Constant, Female, Fahrenheit,
Noise Figure, Noise Factor or "Friendly" on RWR display
F/A Fighter/Attack
FAA Federal Aviation Administration
FAC Forward Air Controller
FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations
FAX Facsimile
fc Footcandle (unit of illuminance)
FCA Functional Configuration Audit
FCR Fire Control Radar
FDR Frequency Domain Reflectometry
FEBA Forward Edge of the Battle Area
FET Field-Effect Transistor
FEWSG Fleet Electronic Warfare Support Group
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FIFO First In / First Out
fig Figure
FIPR Federal Information Processing Resources
fl fluid
FLAK AAA Shrapnel, from the German "Flieger Abwher Kanone" (AAA gun
that fires fast and furiously)
FLIR Forward Looking Infrared
FLPS Flightline Payload Simulator
FLT Flight
FM Frequency Modulation or Failure Mode
FME Foreign Material Exploitation
FMEA Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
FMS Foreign Military Sale(s)
FOC Full Operational Capability
FOD Foreign Object Damage
FORCECAP Force Combat Air Patrol
FOT&E Follow-On Test and Evaluation
FOTD Fiber Optic Towed Device
FOUO For Official Use Only
FOV Field of View
FPA Focal Plane Array
fps feet per second
FRACAS Failure, Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Actions System
FRB Failure Review Board
FRD Functional Requirements Document
FSD Full Scale Development
FSED Full Scale Engineering Development
FSK Frequency Shift Keying
FSU Former Soviet Union
ft Feet or Foot
FTC Fast Time Constant
FTD Foreign Technology Division (USAF)
FWD Forward
FY Fiscal Year
g Gravity (also G)
G Universal Gravitational Constant (also K), Giga (109 multiplier),
Conductance, or Gain
G&A General and Administrative (expense)
GaAs Gallium Arsenide
GACIAC Guidance and Control Information Analysis Center (DoD)
gal Gallon
GAO General Accounting Office
GBU Guided Bomb Unit
GCA Ground Controlled Approach
GCI Ground Control Intercept
GENSER General Service
GEN-X Generic Expendable
GFE Government Furnished Equipment
GHz GigaHertz
GI Government Issue
GIDEP Government Industry Data Exchange Program
GIGO Garbage In / Garbage Out
GOCO Government Owned Contract Operated
GP General Purpose
GPI Ground Plane Interference
GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus
GPS Global Positioning System
GSE Ground Support Equipment
h hours, hecto (102 multiplier), Plank's constant, or
height (also H)
H Height (also h), Henry (Inductance), or Irradiance
HARM High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile
HAWK Homing All the Way Killer
HDBK Handbook
HDF High Duty Factor
HE High Explosive
HEF High Energy Frequency (3x107 to 3x1014 GHz)
HEL High Energy Laser
HELO Helicopter
HERF Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Fuel
HERO Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance
HERP Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Personnel
HF High Frequency [3 - 30 MHz]
HIL Hardware-in-the-Loop
HOJ Home-On-Jam
HOL Higher Order Language
HP-IB Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus
HP-IL Hewlett-Packard Interface Loop
HPM High Powered Microwave
HPRF High Pulse Repetition Frequency
hr hour
HSDB High Speed Data Bus
HUD Heads-Up Display
HV High Voltage
H/W Hardware
HWIL Hardware-in-the-loop
Hz Hertz (Cycles per second)
i current (also I)
I Current (also i), Intensity, Irradiance, Intermediate, or
Roman Numeral for One
IADS Integrated Air Defense System
I&Q In-Phase and Quadrature
IAS Indicated Airspeed
IAW In Accordance With
IBIT Initiated Built-in-Test
IBU Interference Blanker Unit
IC Integrated Circuit
ICD Interface Control Document
ICMD Improved Countermeasure Dispenser
ICNIA Integrated Communication, Navigation, Identification Avionics
ICS Inverse Conical Scan or Intercommunications System (aircraft)
ICW In Compliance With
ID Identification
IDA Institute For Defense Analysis
IDAP Integrated Defensive Avionics Program
IDECM Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IF Intermediate Frequency
IFF Identification Friend-or-Foe
IFM Instantaneous Frequency Measurement
IFR Instrument Flight Rules
IG Inspector General
IIR Imaging Infrared
I-Level Intermediate Level of Repair (also "I" Level)
ILS Integrated Logistic Support, Instrument Landing System, or
Inertial Locator System
ILSMT Integrated Logistic Support Management Team
IM Intermodulation or Item Manager
IMA Intermediate Maintenance Activity
in Inch
INEWS Integrated Electronic Warfare System
INS Inertial Navigation System
INT Intensity
I/O Input/Output
IOC Initial Operational (also Operating) Capability
IOT&E Initial Operational Test and Evaluation
IPO International Projects (Program) Office
IPR In-Progress/Process Review
IPT Integrated Product (also Program) Team
IR Infrared
IR&D Independent Research and Development
IRCM Infrared Countermeasures
IRDS Infrared Detecting System
IREXP IR Expendables
IRIG-B Inter-range Instrumentation Group B
IRLS Infrared Line Scanner
IRS Interface Requirements Specification or Internal Revenue Service
IRST Infrared Search and Track
ISAR Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar
ISO Derived from the Greek "isos" meaning "equal", the official title is
International Organization for Standardization
ISP Integrated Support Plan
ISR Interference to Signal Ratio (also I/S)
ITU International Telecommunications Union
IV&V Independent Validation and Verification
IW Information Warfare
J Jamming, Radiance, Current Density, or Joules
JAAS Joint Architecture for Aircraft Survivability
JAFF Jammer (illuminating) Chaff
JAG Judge Advocate General
JAMS Jamming Analysis Measurement System
JASSM Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile
JAST Joint Advanced Strike Technology
JATO Jet Assisted Takeoff or Jammer Technique Optimization
JC2WC Joint Command and Control Warfare Center
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff or Joint Spectrum Center (formerly ECAC)
JDAM Joint Direct Attack Munition
JED Journal of Electronic Defense (Published by the Association of Old Crows)
JEM Jet Engine Modulation
JETS Joint Emitter Targeting System
JEWC Joint EW Conference or Joint EW Center (now JC2WC)
JMR Jammer
JOVIAL Julius' Own Version of International Algorithmic Language
(Air Force computer programming language)
JPATS Joint Primary Aircraft Training System
J/S Jamming to Signal Ratio
JSF Joint Strike Fighter
JSGCC Joint Services Guidance and Control Committee
JSIR Joint Spectrum Interference Resolution (the signal interference
portion of MIJI)
JSOW Joint Stand-Off Weapon (AGM-154A)
JSTARS Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System
JTCG/AS Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Aircraft Survivability
JTIDS Joint Tactical Information Distribution System
JV or J/V Joint Venture
k kilo (103 multiplier) or Boltzmann Constant
K Kelvin, Cathode, Universal gravitational constant (also G), or
Luminous efficacy
KCAS Knots Calibrated Airspeed
kg kilogram
kHz KiloHertz
KIA Killed in Action
KIAS Knots Indicated Air Speed
km Kilometer
KSLOC Thousand Source Lines of Code (software)
kt Knot (nautical miles per hour)
kW Kilowatt
l length (also L) or liter
L Length (also l), Loss, inductance, Luminance, or Roman Numeral for fifty
LADAR Laser Detection and Ranging (i.e., laser radar)
LAN Local Area Network
LANTIRN Low Altitude Navigation & Targeting Infrared for Night
LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LAT Latitude (0-90 deg N or S from equator)
lbs pounds
LCC Life Cycle Cost(s)
LCD Liquid Crystal Display or Lowest Common Denominator
LCP Left-hand Circular Polarization
LDF Low Duty Factor
LDS Laser Detecting Set
LED Light-Emitting Diode
LEX Leading Edge Extension
LGB Laser Guided Bomb
LF Low Frequency [30 - 300 kHz]
LIC Low Intensity Combat or Laser Intercept Capability
LISP List Processing (A programming language used in artificial intelligence)
LLL Low Light Level (as in LLL TV)
lm lumen (SI unit of luminous flux)
ln Natural Logarithm
LO Local Oscillator or Low Observable
LOA Letter of Agreement (or Acceptance)
LOB Line of Bearing (see also AOA)
LOG Logarithm to the base 10 (also log) or Logistician
LONG Longitude (0-180 deg E or W from Greenwich, U.K.)
LOR Level of Repair
LORA Level of Repair Analysis
LORAN Long Range Navigation
LORO Lobe on Receive Only
LOS Line-of-Sight
LPAR Large Phased-Array Radar
LPD Low Probability of Detection
LPI or LPOI Low Probability of Intercept
LPRF Low Pulse Repetition Frequency
LR Lethal Range
LRA Line Replaceable Assembly
LRF Laser Rangefinder
LRIP Low Rate Initial Production
LRU Line Replaceable Unit
LSA Logistic Support Analysis
LSAR Logistic Support Analysis Record
LSB Least Significant Bit
LSI Large Scale Integration
LSO Landing Signal Officer
LSSO Laser System Safety Officer
LTBB Look Through Blanking Bus
LWIR Long Wave Infrared
LWR Laser Warning Receiver
lx Lux (SI unit of illuminance)
LZ Landing Zone
m milli (10-3 multiplier), meter, or electron mass
M Mega (106 multiplier), Male, Mach number, or Roman numeral for 1,000
MA Missile Alert or Missile Active
MAD Magnetic Anomaly Detection (also Detector)
MADD Microwave Acoustic Delay Device
MAF Maintenance Action Form
MAG Marine Aircraft Group or Magnetic
MANPADS Man-Portable Air Defense System
M&S Modeling and Simulation
MASER Microwave Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation
MATE Modular Automatic Test Equipment
MAW Missile Approach Warning system (also MAWS) or Marine Aircraft Wing
MAX Maximum or Maximum aircraft power (afterburner)
MBFN Multiple Beam Forming Network
MC Mission Computer
MCP Micro-Channel Plate
MDF Mission Data File
MDI Multiple Display Indicator or Miss Distance Indicator
MDG Mission Data Generator
MDS Minimum Discernible Signal or Minimum Detectable Signal
MDU Multipurpose Display Unit
MF Medium Frequency (300 kHz to 3 MHz)
MFD Multifunction (video) Display
MG Missile Guidance
MHz MegaHertz (106 Hz)
MIA Missing in Action
MIC Microwave Integrated Circuit or Management Information Center
MICRON 10-6 meter
MiG Mikoyan-Gurevich (Soviet aircraft manufacturer)
MIGCAP MiG Combat Air Patrol
MIJI Meaconing, Intrusion, Jamming, & Interference (also see JSIR)
mil One-thousandth of an inch
MIL Military power (100%, no afterburner) or Military
MILCON Military Construction
MILSPEC Military Specification
MILSTRIP Military Standard Requisitioning and Issue Procedure(s)
MIMIC Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (also MMIC)
MIN Minimum
MIPPLE RWR display switching between ambiguous emitters
MIPS Millions of (Mega) Instructions Per Second
ML Missile Launch
MLC Main Lobe Clutter
MLV Memory Loader Verifier
MLVS Memory Loader Verifier Set
mm Millimeter
MM Man Month
MMIC Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (also MIMIC)
MMW Millimeter Wave (40 GHz or higher per IEEE, but commonly used
down to 30 GHz)
MOA Memorandum of Agreement
MOAT Missile on Aircraft Test (Phoenix test on F-14)
MOE Measure of Effectiveness
MOM Methods of Moments (also MoM) or Metal-Oxide-Metal
MOP Modulation on Pulse or Measure of Performance
MOPS Million Operations Per Second
MOS Minimum Operational Sensitivity, Military Occupational Specialty,
Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, or Measure of Suitability
MOSAIC Modeling System for Advanced Investigation of Countermeasures
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MPD Multi-Purpose Display or Microwave Power Device
MPE Maximum Permissible Exposure
mph Miles per Hour
MPLC Multi-Platform Launch Controller
MPM Microwave Power Module
MPPS Million Pulses Per Second
MPRF Medium Pulse Repetition Frequency
mr or mrad Milliradian
MRC Maintenance Requirement Card or Medium Range CAP
MRE's Meals Ready to Eat
ms Milliseconds
MSB Most Significant Bit
MSI Multi-Sensor (also Source) Integration, Management Support Issues, or
Medium Scale Integration
MSIC Missile and Space Intelligence Center
MSL Mean Sea Level (altitude) or Missile
MTBF Mean Time Between Failures
MTI Moving Target Indicator (or Indication)
MTTR Mean Time To Repair
MUXBUS Multiplex Bus
MVS Minimum Visible Signal
mw Microwave
mW Milliwatt
MWIR Mid Wave Infrared
MWS Missile Warning Set
MY Man Year
n nano (10-9 multiplier) or number of elements
N Noise, Newton (force), Radiance, North, or No
n/a Not Applicable (also N/A)
NA Numerical Aperture
NAC Naval Avionics Center (now part of NAWCAD)
NADC Naval Air Development Center (now part of NAWCAD)
NADEP Naval Aviation Depot
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATC Naval Air Test Center (now part of NAWCAD)
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATOPS Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization
NAV Navigation
NAVAIR Naval Air Systems Command (also NAVAIRSYSCOM)
NAVSEA Naval Sea Systems Command (also NAVSEASYSCOM)
NAWCAD Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (formerly Trenton,
NADC, NAC, and NATC)
NAWCWPNS Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (formerly PMTC, NWC,
NWEF, and NOMTS)
NBC Nuclear, Biological, Chemical
NCTR Non-Cooperative Target Recognition
NDI Non-Developmental Item or Non Destructive Inspection
NEI Noise Equivalent Power
NEMP Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse
NEOF No Evidence of Failure
NEP Noise Equivalent Power
NF Noise Figure or Noise Factor (also F)
NFO Naval Flight Officer
NIPO Navy International Program Office
NIR Near Infrared
NISC Naval Intelligence Support Center
nm nanometer or Nautical Mile (also NM or NMI)
NM or NMI Nautical Mile (also nm)
NOHD Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance
NOMTS Naval Ordnance Missile Test Station, White Sands, NM
(now part of NAWCWPNS)
NORAD North American Air Defense Command
NPG or NPGS Naval Post Graduate School
NRE Non-Recurring Engineering
NRL Naval Research Laboratory
NRZ Non Return to Zero
NSA National Security Agency
nsec or ns Nanosecond
NSN National Stock Number
NSWC Naval Surface Weapons Center
nt Nit (SI unit of luminance)
NVG Night Vision Goggles
NWC Naval Weapons Center (China Lake) now part of NAWCWPNS
NWEF Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility, Albuquerque, NM (now part of NAWCWPNS)
NWIP Naval Warfare Information Publication
NWP Naval Warfare Publication
O Optical
OADR Originating Agency's Determination Required
OAG Operational Advisory Group
O&MN Operations and Maintenance, Navy (also O&M,N)
OBE Overtaken (Overcome) By Events
OCA Offensive Counter Air
OEWTPS Organizational Electronic Warfare Test Program Set
OFP Operational Flight Program
OJT On-the-Job Training
O-Level Organizational Level of Repair (also "O" Level)
OMA Organizational Maintenance Activity
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OMEGA Optimized Method for Estimating Guidance Accuracy (VLF Navigation System)
ONR Office of Naval Research
OOK On-Off Keying
OPEVAL Operational Evaluation
OPM Office of Personnel Management
OPSEC Operational Security
OPTEVFOR Operational Test and Evaluation Force
OR Operational Requirement or Operationally Ready
ORD Operational Requirements Document
OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Act
OSIP Operational Safety Improvement Program
OSM Operating System Memory or SMA connector made by Omni-Spectra
OSUD Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
OT (&E) Operational Test (and Evaluation)
OTD Operational Test Director
OTH Over the Horizon
OTH-B Over-the-Horizon Backscatter
OTH-R Over-the-Horizon Radar
OTH-T Over-the-Horizon Targeting
OTRR Operational Test Readiness Review
oz ounce
p pico (10-12 multiplier) or page
P Power, Pressure, or Peta (1015 multiplier)
P3I Pre-Planned Product Improvement
Pa Pascal (pressure)
PA Public Address or Program Analyst
PBIT Periodic Built-in-Test
PC Pulse Compression, Personal Computer, or Photoconductive
PCA Physical Configuration Audit
PCM Pulse Code Modulation
Pd Probability of Detection
PD Pulse Doppler
PDI PD Illuminator or Post Detection Integration
PDP Plasma Display Panel
PDQ Pretty Darn [sic] Quick
PDR Preliminary Design Review
PDW Pulse Descriptor Word
PEL Personnel Exposure Limits
PEM Photoelectromagnetic
PEO Program Executive Officer
pf Power Factor or Pico Farads
PFA Probability of False Alarm
PGM Precision Guided Munition
ph Phot (unit of illuminance)
Ph Probability of Hit
pi Greek letter 
Pi Probability of Intercept (also POI)
PID Positive Identification
PIN Personal Identification Number
PIP Product Improvement Plan or Predicted Intercept Point
Pixel Picture Element
Pk Probability of Kill or Peak
PLSS Precision Location Strike System
PM Phase Modulation or Program Manager
PMA Program (also Project) Manager, Air
PMAWS Passive Missile Approach Warning System
PMT Photomultiplier Tube
PMTC Pacific Missile Test Center (PACMISTESTCEN) - now part of NAWCWPNS
P-N Positive to Negative Junction (also p-n)
PN or P/N Part Number
POC Point of Contact
POET Primed Oscillator Expendable Transponder
POI Probability of Intercept (also PI)
POL Polarization
POM Program Objective Memorandum
POP Pulse-on-Pulse or Product Optimization Program
POST Passive Optical Seeker Technology (Stinger missile)
PPI Plan Position Indicator
PPS Pulses Per Second
PRF Pulse Repetition Frequency
PRI Pulse Repetition Interval or Priority
PROM Programmable Read-only Memory
PRR Production Readiness Review or Pulse Repetition Rate
PRT Pulse Repetition Time
Ps Probability of Survival
P's & Q's Pints and Quarts (small details)
PSK Phase-shift Keying
PUPS Portable Universal Programming System
PV Photovoltaic
pw or PW Pulse Width
PWB Printed Wiring Board
q electron charge
Q Quantity Factor (figure of merit), Quadrature, Aerodynamic pressure,
or Charge (coulomb)
QA Quality Assurance
QC Quality Control
QED Quod Erat Demonstradum (end of proof)(Satirically "quite easily done")
QML Qualified Manufacturer Listing
QPL Qualified Parts List
QRC Quick-Reaction Capability
QRD Quick Reaction Demonstration
QRT Quick-Reaction test
r or R Radius or Range
R Resistance, Reliability, or Roentgen
rad Radian
R&D Research and Development
RADAR Radio Detection and Ranging
RADHAZ Radiation Hazard
RAM Random Access Memory, Radar Absorbing Material, Rolling Airframe
Missile, or Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability
R&M Reliability and Maintainability
R&R Rest and Recouperation (Relaxation)
RAT Ram Air Turbine
RBOC Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff
RCP Right-hand Circular Polarization
RCS Radar Cross Section
RCVR Receiver
RDT&E Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation
RDY Ready
RE Radiated Emissions
REC Receive
RET Return
RF Radio Frequency
RFEXP RF Expendables
RFI Radio Frequency Interference, Ready-For-Issue, or Request for Information
RFP Request for Proposal
RFQ Request for Quotation
RFSS Radio Frequency Simulation System (Army)
RGPO Range Gate Pull Off
RGS Range Gate Stealer
RGWO Range Gate Walk Off (see RGPO)
RHAW Radar Homing and Warning Receiver or Radar Homing All the Way
RHAWS Radar Homing and Warning System
RINT Radiation Intelligence
RIO Radar Intercept Officer
RM Radar Mile
rms or RMS Root Mean Square
RNG Range
ROC Required Operational Capability
ROE Rules of Engagement
ROI Return on Investment
ROM Read-only Memory or Rough Order of Magnitude
ROR Range Only Radar or Rate of Return (financial)
ROT Rate of Turn
ROWG Response Optimization Working Group
RPG Receiver Processor Group
RPM Revolutions per Minute
RPT Repeat
RPV Remotely Piloted Vehicle
RRT Rapid Reprogramming Terminal (a type of MLVS)
RS Radiated Susceptibility or Remote Station
RSDS Radar Signal Detecting Set
RSO Range Safety Officer or Receiver, Set-on
RST Receiver Shadow Time
RT Remote Terminal, Termination Resistance, or Receiver/Transmitter
(also R/T)
RUG Radar Upgrade
RWR Radar Warning Receiver
Rx Receive
s, S, or sec seconds
S Signal Power, Surface Area, Secret, Electrical conductance (siemens),
South, Scattering (as in S-parameters), or Seconds
SA Situational Awareness, Semi-Active, Spectrum Analyzer, or
Surface-to-Air(also S/A or S-A)
SA-() Surface-to-Air missile number ()
SAE Society of Automotive Engineers
SAM Surface-to-Air Missile
SA-N-() Naval Surface-to-Air missile number ()
SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar, Special Access Required, Semi-Active
Radar, Search and Rescue, or Specific Absorption Rate
SATO Scheduled Airline Traffic Office
SATS Semi-Active Test System
SAW Surface Acoustic Wave
SBIR Small Business Innovative Research
SCI Sensitive Compartmented Information
SCIF Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility
SCN Specification Change Notice
SCRB Software Configuration Review Board
SCUBA Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SCUD Soviet short-range surface-to-surface missile
SE Support Equipment
SDLM Standard Depot Level Maintenance
SDI Strategic Defense Initiative
Seabee Someone in the Navy Construction Battalion ("CB")
SEAD Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (pronounced "seed" or "C add")
SEAL Sea-Air-Land (Navy special forces)
sec seconds (also S or s)
SECDEF Secretary of Defense
SEI Specific Emitter Identification
SEMA Special Electronic Mission Aircraft
SERD Support Equipment Recommendation Data
SHAPE Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (NATO military command)
SHF Super High Frequency (3 to 30 GHz)
SI Special Intelligence or System International (Units)
SIF Selective Identification Feature
SIGINT Signals Intelligence
SIJ Stand-In Jamming (also S/J)
SIM Simulation
sin Sine
SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System
SIRFC Suite of Integrated RF Countermeasures (includes ATRJ and ATIRCM)
SJ Support Jamming
S/J Stand-In Jamming or Signal to Jamming Ratio
SL Sidelobe or Sea Level (also S.L.)
SLAM Standoff Land Attack Missile
SLAR Side-Looking Airborne Radar
SLC Side Lobe Clutter
SLOC Source Lines of Code or Sea Lines of Communication
SM Statute Mile (also sm) or Standard Missile
SMA Scheduled Maintenance Action or Sub-Miniature A connector
SMC Sub-Miniature C connector
SML Support Material List
SMS Stores Management Set or Status Monitoring System
S/N or SNR Signal-to-Noise Ratio
SNORT Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track
SNTK Special Need to Know
SOF Safety of Flight
SOJ Stand-off Jammer
SONAR Sound Navigation and Ranging
SOO Statement of Objectives (replacing SOW)
SOP Standard Operating Procedures
SORO Scan-on-Receive Only
SOS "Save Our Ship" (distress call with easy Morse code, i.e. ...---...)
SOW Statement of Work (being replaced by SOO)
SPAWAR Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
SPEC Specification
SPIRITS Spectral Infrared Imaging of Targets and Scenes
SPO System Program Office
SPY Radar on an AEGIS ship
sq Square
sr Steradian
SRA Shop Replaceable Assembly
SRAM Static Random Access Memory
SRB Software Review Board
SRBOC Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff
SRD Systems Requirements Document
SRS Software Requirements Specification
SRU Shop Replaceable Unit
SSA Software (also Special or System) Support Activity, Source Selection
Activity, or Solid State Amplifier
SSB Single Side Band
SSBN Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine
SSGN Nuclear Guided Missile Submarine
SSI Small Scale Integration
SSJ Self Screening Jamming
SSM Surface-to-Surface Missile
SSN Nuclear Attack Submarine
SSRO Sector Scan Receive Only
SSW Swept Square Wave
S&T Science and Technology
STANAG Standardization Agreement (NATO)
STAR System Threat Assessment Report
stat Statute
STBY Standby
STC Sensitivity Time Control, Short Time Constant or SHAPE Technical Center
STD Software Test Description, Standard, or Sexually Transmitted Disease
STOVL Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing
STP Software Test Plan, or Standard Temperature and Pressure
(0 deg C at 1 atmosphere)
STR Software (also System) Trouble Report
STT Single Target Track
STU Secure Telephone Unit
SUBSAM Subsurface-to-Air Missile
SUT System Under Test
S/W Software (also SW)
SWC Scan With Compensation
SWM Swept Wave Modulation
SYSCOM Systems Command
t Time (also T)
T Time (also t), tera (10 12 multiplier), Temperature, or Telsa
TA Target Acquisition or Terrain Avoidance
TAAF Teat, Analyze, and Fix
TAC Tactical Air Command (Air Force)
TACAIR Tactical Aircraft
TACAMO Take Charge and Move Out (airborne strategic VLF communications
relay system)
TACAN Tactical Air Navigation
TACDS Threat Adaptive Countermeasures Dispensing System
TACTS Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System
TAD Threat Adaptive Dispensing, Temporary Additional (also Active)
Duty, or Tactical Air Direction
T&E Test & Evaluation
TALD Tactical Air Launched Decoy
TAMPS Tactical Automated Mission Planning System
TAR Target Acquisition Radar or Training Administrative Reserve
TARPS Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (used on F-14)
TAS True Airspeed
TAWC Tactical Air Warfare Center (Air Force)
TBA To Be Announced
TBD To Be Determined
TBMD Theater Ballistic Missile Defense
TD Technical Directive (also Director)
TDD Target Detection Device
TDM Time Division Multiplexing
TE Transverse Electric
TEA Technology Exchange Agreement
TEAMS Tactical EA-6B Mission Support
TECHEVAL Technical Evaluation
TEL Transporter Erector Launcher
TEM Transverse Electromagnetic
TEMP Test and Evaluation Master Plan
TEMPEST Not an acronym. Certification of reduced electromagnetic
radiation for security considerations
TERPES Tactical Electronic Reconnaissance Processing and Evaluation System
TGT Target
TIM Technical Interchange Meeting
TM Telemetry, Transverse Magnetic, or Technical Manual
TMD Theater Missile Defense
TNC Threaded Navy Connector
TOA Time of Arrival
TOJ Track on Jam
TOO Target of Opportunity (HARM operating mode)
TOR Tentative (also Tactical) Operational Requirement or Time of Receipt
TOS Time on Station
TOT Time on Target
TOW Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-guided
TPI Test Program Instruction
TPS Test Program Set or Test Pilot School
TPWG Test Plan Working Group
TQM Total Quality Management
T/R Transmit / Receive
TRB Technical Review Board
TRD Test Requirements Document
TREE Transient Radiation Effects on Electronics
TRF Tuned Radio Frequency
TRR Test Readiness Review
TS Top Secret
TSS Tangential Sensitivity
TSSAM Tri-Service Standoff Attack Weapon
TT Target Track
TTG Time To Go
TTI Time To Impact/Intercept
TTL Transistor-Transistor Logic
TTR Target Tracking Radar
TV Television
TVC Thrusy Vector Control
TWS Track While Scan or Tail Warning System
TWSRO Track While Scan on Receive Only
TWT Travelling Wave Tube
TWTA Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier
Tx Transmit
TYCOM Type Commander
u micron / micro (10-6 multiplier)
U Unclassified, Unit, or Unknown (on RWR display)
UAV Unmanned (also uninhabited) Air (or Aerial) Vehicle
UCAV Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (new USAF term for UAV)
UDF User Data File
UDFG User Data File Generator
UDM User Data Module
UHF Ultra High Frequency (300 MHz to 3 GHz)
ULF Ultra Low Frequency (3 to 30 Hz)
um Micrometer
UN United Nations
UNK Unknown (also U)
UPS Uninterruptable Power Supply
us or s Microseconds
U.S. United States
USA United States of America or United States Army
USAF United States Air Force
USMC United States Marine Corps
USN United States Navy
UTA Uninhabited Tactical Aircraft
UUT Unit Under Test
UV Ultraviolet
v Volts (also V), Velocity (also V or vt)
V Volts (also v), Velocity (also v or vt), Volume, or
Roman Numeral for five
VA Veterans Administration, Volt-Amperes, or prefix for a
Navy attack squadron
VAQ Prefix for Navy (or Marine) tactical EW squadron
V&V Validation and Verification
VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator
Vdc or VDC Volts Direct Current
VDT Video Display Terminal
VECP Value Engineering Change Proposal
VF Prefix for Navy fighter squadron
VFO Variable Frequency Oscillator
VFR Visual Flight Rules
VGPO Velocity Gate Pull Off
VGS Velocity Gate Stealer
VGWO Velocity Gate Walk Off
VHF Very High Frequency (30 - 300 MHz)
VHSIC Very High Speed Integrated Circuit
VID Visual Identification
VLF Very Low Frequency (3 to 30 kHz)
VLSI Very Large Scale Integration
VLSIC Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit
VP Prefix for Navy patrol squadron
VQ Prefix for Navy special mission (usually reconnaissance) squadron
VRAM Video Random Access Memory
VS or vs Velocity Search or Versus (also vs.)
V/STOL Vertical/Short Take-off and Landing (also VSTOL)
vt Velocity (also V or v)
VTOL Vertical Takeoff and Landing
VSWR Voltage Standing Wave Ratio
VVA Voltage Variable Attenuator
W Watts, Weight, or West
W&T Warning & Targeting
WARM Wartime Reserve Mode
wb Weber (magnetic flux)
WBS Work Breakdown Structure
WC Waveguide, circular
WGIRB Working Group on Infrared Background
WIA Wounded in Action
WORM Write Once Read Many [times] (Refers to optical disks)
WOW Weight on/off Wheels (also WonW or WoffW)
WPAFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
WPN Weapons Procurement, Navy or Weapon
WR Waveguide, rectangular
WRA Weapon Replaceable Assembly
WRD Waveguide, rectangular double ridged
WSSA Weapons System Support Activity
WVR Within Visual Range
x Multiplication symbol
X Reactance, Experimental, Extraordinary, Roman Numeral for ten, or X axis
X-EYE Cross Eye
XO Executive officer
X-POL Cross Polarization
XMIT Transmit
Y Yes or Y-Axis
YAG Yttrium-Aluminum Garnet
yd Yard
YIG Yttrium-Iron Garnet
Z Impedance, Zenith, or Z-Axis
1xLR, 2xLR One (or two or three etc.) Times Lethal Range
1v1 or 1-v-1 One versus One (Aerial engagement)
2D Two Dimension
3D Three Dimension
3M Navy Maintenance and Material Management System
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