Sky Masters

EC-135C strategic communications aircraft — current-generation communications relay and electronic intelligence aircraft, operated by Strategic Air Command ECM — electronic countermeasures

ELT — emergency locator transmitter, a radio that transmits a beacon signal on special search and rescue frequencies to facilitate rescue operations

EMP — electromagnetic pulse, the high burst of energy from a nuclear explosion that can disrupt communications and electronic circuitry for long distances and for long periods of time

ETA — estimated time of arrival

ETE — estimated time en route

F-4E Phantom — current two-seat fighter-bomber built by McDonnell-Douglas

F-16 ADF Fighting Falcon — lightweight fighter built by General Dynamics; ADF (air defense fighter) model specially modified to intercept unidentified bomber aircraft at long range

F-23 Wildcat — (fictional, but X-23 is actual) next-generation fighter built by Northrop and McDonnell-Douglas

Fei Lung-7 — Chinese ship-launched medium-range antiship missile

Fei Lung-9 — (F) Chinese ship-launched long-range antiship missile with nuclear warhead

FIE — fighter-intercept exercise, where fighters practice finding, identifying, intercepting, and attacking bombers

FOREST GREEN — Defense Department program developed to detect and measure nuclear explosions on Earth or in the atmosphere

Form 781 — standard aircraft maintenance log

Fox Three — in an air intercept, a code meaning the aircraft’s machine gun or cannon is being employed

GCI — Ground Controlled Intercept, ground radar station that controls fighters to intercept unidentified aircraft

Global Positioning System (GPS) — constellation of satellites in Earth orbit that provide very precise time, position, and ground- speed information to aircraft and vessels

GUARD — 121.5 or 243.0 megahertz, the international emergency radio frequencies

HADES — (F) BLU-96 fuel-air explosive bomb

Harpoon — U.S.-made AGM-84 long-range antiship missile

HAVE NAP — AGM-142 Israeli-made long-range air-launched attack missile

HAVE QUICK — secure antieavesdrop air-to-air radio used by friendly fighters

HAWC — (F) High Technology Aerospace Weapons Center, a secret U.S. Air Force research facility in Dreamland that conducts flight-test experiments on new and modified aircraft and new weapon systems

HDTV — high-definition television

Hong Qian-61 — short-range antiaircraft missile system deployed on medium-size Chinese warships

Hong Qian-91 — medium-range antiaircraft missile system deployed on large Chinese naval vessels

Hornet — F/A-18 carrier-based fighter-bomber built by McDonnell- Douglas

HUD — heads-up display, a system that projects flight and weapons information in front of a pilot’s field of view to allow him to read important flight information without looking back down inside the cockpit at his instrument panel during critical phases of flight, such as air combat

ICBM — intercontinental ballistic missile, very long-range nuclear- tipped attack missiles

IFF — Identification Friend or Foe, a radio system that broadcasts coded identification information to other aircraft or radar systems

IN — instructor navigator

IRSTS — infrared search and track system, an electronic weapon system for fighters that detects heat energy and can transmit azimuth (bearing to the target) data to the fighter’s fire-control weapon system

ISAR — Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar, a radar system that uses the motion of the object being tracked to sharpen and define the radar image; commonly used to identify ships by naval reconnaissance aircraft

J-2 — part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff joint staff, J-2 is the JCS directorate of intelligence

JCS — Joint Chiefs of Staff, the commanders of the five main branches of the American military that serve as the interface between the National Command Authority (President and Secretary of Defense) and the military forces. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the NCA’s primary uniformed military adviser.

KA-6 — aerial refueling tanker version of the A-6 Intruder carrier- based attack aircraft

KC-10 — aerial refueling tanker version of the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 airliner

KC-135 — aerial refueling tanker version of the C-135 transport plane

KH — Keyhole series of photographic reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence-gathering satellites; produces very high-resolution photographs; the code name KEYHOLE refers to overhead photographic imaging systems, including aircraft and satellites

LACROSSE — new generation of high-resolution radar imaging satellites; transmits intelligence data to Earth by data link