AAA: Anti-Aircraft-Artillery, also called "ack-ack"

AAM: Air to Air Missile

AAR: Air to Air Refueling

AC: Aerodynamic Center

ACM: Air Combat Maneuvering

ADF: Automatic Direction Finder

AGL: Above Ground Level (i.e. 2,400’ AGL)

AGM: Air to Ground Missile

AIC: Airborne Intercept Control

AIM: Air Intercept Missile

AMRAAM: Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile

Angels: Altitude in thousands of feet

AOA: Angle of Attack

AON: Angle off the Nose

AOT: Angle off the Tail

ARM: Anti-Radiation Missile

ASL: Above Sea Level (i.e. 2,400’ASL)

AWACS: Airborne Warning and Control System

Bandit: Identified enemy aircraft

Belly Check: a 90-deg. roll to look below for possible bandits

BFM: Basic Fighter Maneuver

Bingo: Minimum fuel required to return to base

Bitc*in Betty: Audible voice warning system

Black-out: Physically incapacitated due to pulling too many +G’s

Bogey: A radar / visual contact of unknown identity

Break: A high G turn, also known as a "Bat-Turn"

Bugging out: Disengaging from combat, retreating

BVR: Beyond Visual Range

CAP: Combat Air Patrol

Carousel: A dogfight with no firing capability

CAS: Close Air Support

C3: Command Control Communications

CBU: Cluster Bomb Unit

Chaff: Dispensed unit designed to disrupt radar acquisition

Check-Six: Look behind you

CG: Center of Gravity

Chicks: Friendly aircraft

Closure: Relative rate of approaching aircraft

Debriefing Fluid: Beer

Dolly: Data link equipment

Drag: Any impediment to forward movement through air

ECCM: Electronic Counter-Countermeasures

ECM: Electronic Countermeasures

EID: Electronic Identification (see also IFF)

EMCON: Emissions Condition, refers to radio emissions (set0=all radios off)

ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

EW: Electronic Warfare

"Feet-Dry": Aircraft over land

"Feet-Wet": Aircraft over water

Fence in: Inside enemy airspace

Fence out: Outside enemy airspace

"Fight’s On-Fight’s On": Radio call to initiate combat

Flight Envelope: Performance limits of a particular aircraft

Fly-byWire: Any aircraft controlled electronically

Fox one: Firing of a radar guided missile

Fox two: Firing of a heat guided missile

Fox three: Firing of guns (also known as Guns Guns Guns)

Furball: Multiple aircraft engagement i.e. 10V10

G: Measurement of gravitational force 7G’s = 7 X Object Weight

GCI: Ground Controlled Intercept

Graveyard Spiral: Uncontrollable spin to the ground

H: Altitude

Hawk: Staying above the dogfight without engaging

H-M: Altitude-Mach

Homeplate: your home airfield or base, or carrier

HUD: Heads Up Display

ILS: Instrument Landing System

INS: Inertial Navigation System

In The Silk: Ejected

IR: Infrared

IRCCM: Infrared Counter-Countermeasures

Jammer: See ECM & ECCM

Jinking: Erratic defensive maneuver to make enemy firing difficult

KFT: Thousand Feet

KIAS: Knots Indicated Airspeed

Knock it off: Terminate fighting maneuvers immediately

Knot: One nautical mile per hour, equal to 1.15 statute miles

KTAS: Knots True Airspeed

Lawn Dart: Any fly-by-wire aircraft

LCOS: Lead Computing Optical Sight

L/D: Lift to Drag Ratio

LOS: Line of Sight

M: Mach (=approx. 700kts @sea level)

MBC: Main Beam Clutter

MiG: Mikoyan-Gurevich designed aircraft

MSA: Minimum Safe Altitude

MSL: Mean Sea Level

Music: Enemy aircraft is jamming your radar

NM: Nautical Miles (1NM=1.15SM)

No Joy: No visual contact

Painting: Illuminating a target with IR / Radar, for weapon

PD: Pulse Doppler

Pickle: Drop ground ordnance

Pucker Factor: method of rating hazardous missions (refers to lower anatomy)

Punch out: Eject

Q: Dynamic Pressure

Red-out: Physically incapacitated due to pushing too many –G’s

ROE: Rules of Engagement

RWR: Radar Warning Receiver (see also Threat Caution Indicator)

SAM: Surface to Air Missile

SAR: Search and Rescue

Semi-Active: A weapon that is guided by an external source

SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fouled Up (see Furball)

Snap-Shot: High angle gun shot

SNIFF: Radar / Radio configuration set to passive (receive only), stealth

Spike: You’ve been detected by radar

Stall: Loss of lift, causes aircraft to uncontrollably descend

TAA: Target Aspect Angle

TACTS: Tactical Air Combat Telemetry Station

Tally Ho: Visual contact

Target Rich Environment: see pucker factor

TCA: Track Crossing Angle

TFR: Terrain Following Radar

TLAR: That Looks About Right bombing / shooting method

TOF: Time of Flight

TR: Turn Rate

Tracer: Illuminated gun ammo

Tumbleweed: I’m lost

T/W: Thrust to Weight Ratio

V: Velocity, also stands for Versus i.e. 1 V 1

Vertigo: disorientation, unable to determine up, down, left or right

VID: Visual Identification

VIFF: Thrust Vector in Forward Flight

Vortices: Air currents produced by wing edges

Vs: Stall Speed @1G

Wild Weasel: An aircraft designated to fly low and destroy ground threats

Winchester: Out of ordnance