Defense Glossary: A-Z Military & Tactical Terms Guide

A-Z Military Reference for Defense Industry Analysis and Tactical Operations.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

A Back to Top

Term	Definition
AA	Anti-Aircraft: Measures to destroy enemy aircraft.
AAA	Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Triple-A). Ground-based heavy guns.
AAM	Air-to-Air Missile.
ABM	Anti-Ballistic Missile.
AC-130	Heavily armed ground-attack gunship.
ACINT	Acoustic Intelligence.
ACU	Army Combat Uniform.
AEGIS	Integrated naval weapons system (U.S.).
AFV	Armored Fighting Vehicle (Tanks, APCs).
A2/AD	Anti-Access/Area Denial strategy.
APC	Armored Personnel Carrier.
AWACS	Airborne Warning and Control System.

B Back to Top

Term	Definition
B-1 Lancer	"The Bone": Supersonic heavy bomber.
B-2 Spirit	Heavy strategic stealth bomber.
Bingo Fuel	Minimum fuel state for return to base.
Black Ops	Covert operations not attributable to the source.
BFT	Blue-Force Tracking (GPS location).
Bogey	Unidentified, potentially hostile aircraft.
Bradley	M2/M3 Tracked infantry fighting vehicle.
Brevity Code	Short radio codes (e.g., "Rifle").
Brigade	Unit of 2,000–5,000 soldiers.

C Back to Top

Term	Definition
C4ISR	Command, Control, Comms, Computers, Intel, Surveillance, Recon.
CAS	Close Air Support.
CASEVAC	Casualty Evacuation.
CBRN	Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear.
COIN	Counter-insurgency.
CQB	Close Quarters Battle.

D Back to Top

Term	Definition
Danger Close	Warning that strikes are near friendly troops.
DARPA	Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
DEW	Directed-Energy Weapon (e.g., lasers).
DMZ	Demilitarized Zone.

E Back to Top

Term	Definition
ECM	Electronic Countermeasures.
Electronic Warfare	Use of electromagnetic spectrum to control or attack.
ELINT	Electronic Intelligence.
EOD	Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

F Back to Top

Term	Definition
F-22 Raptor	All-weather stealth tactical fighter.
F-35 Lightning	Stealth multirole combat aircraft.
FAC	Forward Air Controller.
FLIR	Forward-Looking Infrared.
FOB	Forward Operating Base.

G / H Back to Top

Term	Definition
GEOINT	Geospatial Intelligence.
Ghillie Suit	Camouflage clothing for environments.
HALO	High Altitude-Low Opening (parachute).
HEAT	High-Explosive Anti-Tank.
Hellfire	Air-to-surface anti-armor missile.
HUMINT	Human Intelligence.

I / J Back to Top

Term	Definition
ICBM	Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
IED	Improvised Explosive Device (homemade bomb).
ISR	Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance.
ITAR	International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
Javelin	Portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile.
JSOC	Joint Special Operations Command.

K / L Back to Top

Term	Definition
Kevlar	High-strength fiber for armor.
KIA	Killed In Action.
LMG	Light Machine Gun (e.g., M249).
Logistics	Movement and maintenance of forces.
LZ	Landing Zone.

M / N Back to Top

Term	Definition
M1 Abrams	U.S. Main Battle Tank (MBT).
MAD	Mutually Assured Destruction.
MANPADS	Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems.
MOUT	Military Operations in Urban Terrain.
MRAP	Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle.
NATO	North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
NVG	Night Vision Goggles.

O / P Back to Top

Term	Definition
OSINT	Open-Source Intelligence.
OPSEC	Operational Security.
Patriot	Surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.
PGM	Precision-Guided Munition.
POW	Prisoner of War.

Q / R / S Back to Top

Term	Definition
QRF	Quick Reaction Force.
ROE	Rules of Engagement.
SIGINT	Signals Intelligence.
SOP	Standard Operating Procedure.
SAM	Surface-to-Air Missile.

T / U / V Back to Top

Term	Definition
THAAD	Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
Tomahawk	Long-range cruise missile.
UAV	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Drone).
V-22 Osprey	Tiltrotor military aircraft.
VLS	Vertical Launching System.

W / X / Y / Z Back to Top

Term	Definition
WMD	Weapon of Mass Destruction.
XO	Executive Officer (Second-in-command).
Zulu	Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).