Tiger's Claw

WEAPONS AND ACRONYMS

A&P—Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic

ABM—Anti Ballistic Missile

AC—Aircraft Commander

Aegis—advanced shipborne radar system

AGM-86D—Maverick TV-guided missile

AGM-88 HARM—High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, anti-radar weapon

ALQ-293 Self-Protection Electronically Agile Reaction (SPEAR)—advanced jamming and netrusion system

AMRAAM—Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, radar guided

APR-3E—Chinese air-dropped rocket-powered torpedo

ARCP—Air Refueling Control Point, the rendezvous point for receivers and tankers

AST—Aviation Survival Technician, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer

ASW—Anti Submarine Warfare

ATP—Airline Transport Rating

AWACS—Airborne Warning and Control System

Beak—nickname for the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber

bold-print items—items in a checklist that must be committed to memory

Bone—nickname for the B-1B Lancer bomber (B-One)

BUFF—nickname for the B-52 bomber (Big Ugly Fat F**ker)

C-182—Cessna 182 light single-engine airplane

CAP—Civil Air Patrol

CFI—Certified Flight Instructor

CFI-I—Certified Flight Instructor-Instruments

CJ-20—long-range air-launched cruise missile

CJCS—chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

CNO—Chief of Naval Operations

COO—Chief Operating Officer

DEFCON—Defense Readiness Condition

DFAC—Dining Facility

DoD—Department of Defense

Dolphin-class—Israeli submarine

E-3C Sentry—airborne radar plane

Eagle Eye—unmanned remotely piloted reconnaissance plane

EEZ—Economic Exclusion Zone

EGT—Exhaust Gas Temperature

F-15C Eagle—American-made air superiority fighter

F-22 Raptor—fifth-generation American air superiority fighter

FPCON—Force Protection Condition

GDP—Gross Domestic Product

HARM—High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile

IDAS—Interactive Defense and Attack System, sub-launched attack missile

JASSM—Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, medium-range cruise missile

JH-37 Fei bào—Chinese carrier-based fighter-bomber

Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS)—advanced military data-sharing system

KC-10 Extender—third-generation U.S. Air Force air refueling tanker and cargo plane

KC-135 Stratotanker—second-generation Air Force air refueling tanker

KC-46A Provider—fourth-generation Air Force air refueling tanker

long legs—able to fly long distances

LORAN—Long Range Navigation, ground-based long-range radio navigation system

MAD—magnetic anomaly detector, a system to locate submarines by aircraft

Mjollnr—space-based land or sea attack system

Nansha Dao—Chinese name for the Spratly Islands

netrusion—injecting false code or viruses electronically into an enemy radar

NVG—night-vision goggles

OTH-B—over-the-horizon backscatter ultra-long-range radar

PACAF—Pacific Air Forces

PL-9C—Chinese short-range heat-seeking air-to-air missile

Preppie—cadet entering the Air Force Academy who needs academic assistance

RQ-4 Global Hawk—long-range high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft

RTB—return to base

SAM—surface-to-air missile

SAT—Scholastic Aptitude Test

SBIRS—Space-Based Infrared Surveillance, new missile launch detection and tracking system

Shaanxi Y-8—Chinese medium turboprop transport plane modified for ASW patrol

shapes—inert practice bomb with the same size, weight, and shape of a real bomb

Shenyang J-20 Tiaozhàn—fifth-generation Chinese jet fighter

sonobuoy—floating air-dropped sensor to detect submarines

StealthHawk—stealthy long-range attack cruise missile

Tank—nickname of the Joint Chiefs of Staff conference room

Thor’s Hammer—space-based land and sea attack weapon

Tomahawk—long-range ship- or sub-launched attack cruise missile

UNCLOS—United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

UNR—University of Nevada–Reno

Wilco—will comply

XB-1F Excalibur—refurbished B-1B Lancer bomber

XF-111 SuperVark—refurbished F-111 Aardvark bomber

Xisha Dao—Chinese name for the Paracel Islands

Zhongnanhai—Chinese government building complex in Beijing