Glossary
18228 part number for the Vulcan’s Radar Warning Receiver
90 Way The unit controlling the dropping of the Vulcan’s bomb-load. So called because, supposedly, it offered ninety different options
A-4 Skyhawk US-made single-engine, single-seat naval attack aircraft
AARI Air-to-Air Refuelling Instructor
AEO Air Electronics Officer
AFC Air Force Cross
AIM-9 Sidewinder American-made heat-seeking air-toair missile
Alpha Jet Franco-German advanced jet-training aircraft
Amtrac Armoured Personnel Carrier
anti-metric depth An imperial depth that’s not directly equivalent to an obvious metric depth such as 50, 100, 150 or 200 metres
AOC Air Officer Commanding
APC Armoured Personnel Carrier
AS12 air-to-surface missile carried by British Wasp helicopters
AS-37 Martel Anglo-French air-to-surface missile
ASI Ascension Island
astro-navigation Establishing one’s position using a sextant and starcharts
B-52 Stratofortress American eight-engined heavy bomber
Balbo Slang for a large formation of aircraft. After Italo Balbo, an Italian who, in 1933, flew a squadron of twenty-two flying boats from Italy to the United States
BAM Malvinas Base Aérea Militar Malvinas
Bear The NATO reporting name for the TU-95, a swept-wing Soviet patrol bomber powered by four turboprop engines
Belfast British turboprop transport aircraft
Bingo Fuel A preplanned fuel level at which an aircraft has to turn for home
Bison The NATO reporting name for the M-4, a Soviet four-jet patrol bomber
Bone Dome protective flying helmet
Buccaneer British low-level strike aircraft
Burn-Out Zone The zone where a weapon is inaccurate but still potentially lethal
C-130 Hercules US-made turboprop transport aircraft
C-141 US-made four-jet transport aircraft
Carousel an inertial navigation system
Dagger Israeli version of the Mirage jet
Dash 10 A wing-mounted podded radar jammer used by the Vulcan during the BLACK BUCK raids
DFC Distinguished Flying Cross
dihedral angled upwards from horizontal
drogue Also known as the basket, this is at the end of the hose trailed from the Victor’s HDU. Shaped like a shuttlecock, it couples with the receiver’s probe to allow fuel to flow between the two aircraft
DV Direct Vision
ECM Electronic Counter-Measures
EPIRB Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon
Exocet French air-, surface- or submarine-launched anti-ship missile
F4 Phantom American-built two-seat fighter-bomber
F95 aerial camera used by the RAF
FAA Fuerza Aérea Argentina: the Argentine Air Force
Fansong Soviet fire-control radar used with the SA-2 surface-to-air missile
FIBS Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service
FIDF Falkland Islands Defence Force
FIGAS Falkland Islands Government Air Service
fire-control radar Radar that directs the fire of anti-aircaft guns or surface-to-air missiles
flameout extinction of the flame in a jet engine’s combustion chamber
GADA 601 Grupo de Artillería de Defensa Aérea: an Argentine Army anti-aircraft unit
gash RAF slang for rubbish
Gnat British advanced jet-training aircraft
GPI6 Ground Position Indicator Mk 6
GPMG General Purpose Machine-Gun
green porridge RAF slang for the H2S radar display used by Vulcan and Victor Navigator Radars
Gun Dish Soviet fire-control radar used with the ZSU-23-4
H2S radar carried by Vulcans, Victors and Valiants
HDU Hose Drum Unit: the mechanism that winds and unwinds the Victor’s refuelling hose
HF high-frequency
HP cock high-pressure cock
Humphrey nickname for HMS Antrim’s Wessex helicopter
IFF Identification Friend or Foe: a radio transponder broadcasting on prearranged frequencies to confirm identity
INS Inertial Navigation System
JARIC Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire
Jet Provost British basic jet-training aircraft
JPT jet pipe temperature
KC-135 US-made aerial tanker
KH11 American spy satellite
Kill Zone The zone in which a weapon is accurate and lethal
LADE Líneas Aéreas de Estado: airline operated by the Argentine Air Force
Lightning single-seat British jet fighter
LP cock low-pressure cock
Mae West RAF nickname for aircrew’s life jackets
MEZ Maritime Exclusion Zone
Mirage French-made single-engine, single-seat fighter-bomber
MRR Maritime Radar Reconnaissance
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NBS Navigation and Bombing System
NVGs night-vision goggles
OCU Operational Conversion Unit
ODM Operating Data Manual
Oerlikon Swiss-made radar-guided 35mm anti-aircraft cannon
Omega very-low-frequency radio navigation system
Operation ALPHA Argentine plan to establish sovereignty on South Georgia
Operation BLACK BUCK The codename given to RAF Vulcan raids during the Falklands War
Operation BLUE Argentine plan to seize the Falkland Islands
Operation CORPORATE The codename given to the British operation to retake the Falkland Islands
Operation PARAQUAT The codename for the British operation to retake South Georgia
PEC Personal Equipment Connector
pop up To ascend briefly from low level in order to deliver weapons
PRF Pulse Recurrence Frequency: picked up by an RWR and used by the AEO to distinguish one radar from another
probe The device through which a receiver takes on fuel during air-to-air refuelling
QFI Qualified Flying Instructor
QRA Quick Reaction Alert
Radar Altimeter Measures altitude by transmitting radar pulses directly downwards which reflect back to the radar aerial. In contrast to a barometric altimeter, it measures actual distance from the ground rather than indicating height above sea level
RAT Ram Air Turbine: source of emergency electrical power used in the event of engine failure