Glossary of Common Terms

Contents:	Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Active duty

Status of personnel who are alive, well and currently working.

AFV

Acronym for Armored Fighting Vehicle.

AI

Acronym for Artificial Intelligence.

AMR

Acronym for Anti-Materiel Rifle.

AMSL

Acronym for "Above Mean Sea Level".

Anti-materiel

An adjective for a tool used for the purpose of destroying inanimate objects as opposed to personnel.

APC

Acronym for Armored Personnel Carrier.

AR

Acronym for Augmented Reality or Automatic Rifle. Also a term for ArmaLite rifles.

Artificial intelligence

A broad term for a program that can make decisions of its own accord upon giving it a set of data.

ASC

Acronym for Antarctic State of Cyberia.

Assault rifle

Archaic term for automatic rifle. Regularly confused with the term AR.

Augmented reality

A term for displays that overlay information and graphics onto a video feed of the real-world surroundings.

Automatic rifle

Official Cyberian term for rifles that are self-repeating. Rifles do not necessarily need a full-auto setting to be considered 'automatic' rifles.

B

Backblast

The mass of hot gas that explodes from the back end of an RPG or recoilless rifle. Recommend not being in the way.

Bionics

Field of studies and artificial products of varying advancement intended to replace parts of the body.

Bullpup

A firearm configuration where its magazine and firing mechanism are situated behind its trigger group.

C

CATOBAR

Acronym for Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery. Refers to the use of aircraft catapults to extremely accelerate the vehicle to takeoff, and arrestor cables to very quickly decelerate aircraft upon landing.

Casualty

A military term for a person who becomes unavailable for duty due to non-fatal injury, going missing, or death.

Civilian

A person not employed by a military.

CMB

Acronym for Cyberian Military Base

Commanding officer

The officially recognized leader of a given unit.

Concealed carry

The act of carrying a firearm on one's person in a concealed or otherwise non-obvious manner.

Corps

Pronounced: "kor". A term for a significant division or branch of military forces.

Cybernetics

Field of studies and artificial products of varying advancement intended for placement in or on the body to enhance its abilities or grant it new ones.

D

Drone

A generic term for any unmanned vehicle. Usually used in the context of unmanned aerial vehicles.

E

EMALS

Acronym for Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System. Refers to aircraft catapult systems that utilize linear induction motors.

F

Firearm

Synonym for gun.

Federal

A form of government where levels of government are staggered; where different levels of government are allowed to make their own laws that do not legally interfere with the higher powers' laws.

Food bar

An edible, compressed bar of food with significant nutritional value. Can be synthetic or organic.

G

Gender identity

Separate from sex, or biological gender. Refers to the gender a person identifies as.

Gun launderer

A term for people who make a profit "laundering" (i.e., illegally supplying unlicensed people with) guns.

Gun license

A license necessary for the legal acquisition and non-malicious use of a class of firearmss. Further reading: Gun laws in Cyberia.

H

Headquarters

Base of operations, used in the context of law enforcement and riot control.

Heads-up display

A similar term for augmented reality, or AR.

Heavy machine gun

A machine gun that feeds from a continuous belt of ammunition, and fires bullets of at least .50 caliber (12.7mm in diameter).

HMG

Acronym for Heavy Machine Gun.

HMMWV

Acronym for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Pronounced "humvee".

Holographic sight

A sight that superimposes a reticle on the line of sight that the sight is directly pointing at, regardless of viewing angle. Further reading: Wikipedia:Holographic weapon sight.

HUD

Acronym for Heads-Up Display.

Humvee

A generic term for a four-wheeled armored vehicle that resembles the form of a truck.

Hypersonic

Travelling at least five times the speed of sound.

I

IFV

Acronym for Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

Infantry

A term for ground troops. Armed personnel who operate outside of a vehicle.

Intel

Short for intelligence. Used in the context of "useful information".

J

Jump jet

A jet-powered aircraft that is capable of VTOL, STOVL and hovering.

K

KIA

Acronym for Killed In Action.

KMP

Acronym for "Komsomolskaya Military Prison".

L

Law enforcement

One of three police forces in Cyberia. Comprised of common policemen and police officers. They deal with civilians only.

Light machine gun

A machine gun that feeds from a continuous belt of ammunition.

M

Machine gun

Another term for automatic rifle.

Machine pistol

A pistol that is capable of fully automatic fire.

Magazine

A device for holding rounds of ammunition for feeding into a firearm.

Magnification

A term for the zoom of a scope. Measured in nx, where n is the multiplication of the angular diameter of any objects seen through the scope. Example: "12x magnification".

Main battle tank

A very large, armored and tracked vehicle with a large-bore cannon.

Materiel

Different than material. Materiel refers to physical objects that are used for military purposes.

MBT

Acronym for Main Battle Tank.

MIA

Acronym for Missing In Action.

Military-industrial complex

An informal arrangement between a military and any number of non-military companies that supply that military with any kind of items, for profit.

Military police

One of three major police forces in Cyberia. Also a generic term for law enforcement personnel assigned only to military bases.

Money laundering

A term for the act of concealing the origin of profits, whether the profits are legal or illegal.

MP

Acronym for "Military Police" or "Military Prison".

MOS

Acronym for Military Occupational Specialty. Refers to the job code that defines a serviceman's military job title.

MRAP

Acronym for Mine-Resistant; Ambush Protected. Also a generic term for a four or six wheeled armored vehicle that resembles the shape of a truck. Pronounced: "em-rap".

Muzzle

The end of a gun barrel.

Muzzle brake

Device attached to the muzzle of a gun barrel to better control its climb by redirecting propellant gasses.

Muzzle climb

The lifting of the muzzle of a gun when firing, due to recoil.

Muzzle energy

The kinetic energy of a projectile at the point that it leaves the end of a barrel. Measured in joules, and calculated by a formula. Further reading: Gun laws in Cyberia.

Muzzle flash

The bright flash that explodes from the end of a gun barrel upon firing. Comprised of burning propellant.

Muzzle velocity

The velocity of a projectile at the point that it leaves the end of a barrel. Officially measured in meters per second rather than feet per second.

N

Nanite

An extremely small machine/robot usually used to perform actions inside of a body at the nanometer level. Synonymous with "nanomachine".

NATO

Acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Disbanded.

O

Organic

Made or grown in a natural manner.

Organic food bar

An edible, compressed bar of naturally grown foods.

P

Personnel

Term used for people who are part of an organization, especially if military.

Picatinny Rail

A standardized rail system for mounting various accessories to guns, including optics.

PMC

Acronym for Private Military Company, Private Military Corporation, or in the context of an individual person: Private Military Contractor.

Policeman

A non-officer member of a government-authorized police organization.

Police officer

A policeman who has been promoted into officer-grade ranks. Often incorrectly used as a term for policemen.

Private military company

A company that offers services using armed personnel for profit.

Private military contractor

An armed individual that offers their services for profit.

Private military corporation

A corporation of private military companies.

Q

Quarters

Any room that houses a serviceman for living in, permanent or temporary. Always plural.

R

Recoilless rifle

A rifle that utilizes backblast recoil to counterbalance the rearward recoil of firing, resulting in nearly zero recoil. Though similar in form and feel to an RPG, recoilless rifles do not fire rockets.

Report

A term for the loud bang that a gun makes upon firing.

Reproduction

A new production model of an unavailable or otherwise discontinued item. Abbreviated as 'repro'.

Research & development

Development of new and/or upgraded technologies, especially in a military context.

Riot control

One of three police forces in Cyberia. Most aggressive and most well-armed on average. Deals with high-risk civilian situations. Similar to SWAT.

Rifle

A gun that has a rifled barrel.

Rifled

A term for a barrel that has rifling.

Rifling

Spiraling grooves cut in a gun barrel to impart spin on its projectile(s) for ballistic stability.

RPG

Acronym for ручной противотанковый гранатомёт (transliterated as "Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot"), meaning "hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher". Often used as a generic term for any weapon that launches rockets.

S

Sabot

A discarding device that fills the space between a projectile and the inner surface of a gun barrel. Used when the projectile is significantly smaller in diameter than the bore.

SACLOS

Acronym for Semi-Automatic Command to Line Of Sight. A guidance command that continuously corrects a projectile's flight path into the center of the launcher's line of sight.

Scope

A device used for optical magnification.

SBR

Acronym for Short-Barreled Rifle.

Schutzstaffel

Highly derogatory insult to the Riot Control Corps. Used to compare them to Nazi Germany's paramilitary organization of the same name. German for "Protection Squadron".

Serviceman

A term for a person employed by a military.

Short-barreled rifle

An archaic term for a rifle with either a short barrel (<16", <406mm), or that is short in overall length (<26", 660mm). Not an officially recognized term for firearms by the Cyberian government.

Shotshell

A type of ammunition that carries shot, which is a number of metal pellets. Due to the construction of the shell, it can also hold many other kinds of projectiles other than shot.

Silencer

Synonymous with "suppressor". A device attached to and/or around a gun barrel to lessen its sound signature and flash. The added weight tends to slightly reduce recoil. The capturing of propellant gasses and subsequent increase in pressure tends to slightly increase muzzle velocity.

Small arm

Term for a firearm that is portable, as in able to be carried by a single average person.

Smoothbore

A barrel that is smooth as opposed to rifled.

SMP

Acronym for "Storozh Military Prison".

Sniper

Specially trained personnel well-practiced in the arts of camouflage, scouting, and of course long-range marksmanship. Usually partnered closely with a spotter.

Sniper rifle

A specialized rifle designed specifically for precision shooting at long ranges.

Speed of sound

The speed of free vibrations in a particular medium. For air at one atmosphere of pressure, the speed of sound is about 340m/s (760mph).

Spotter

Personnel whose main job is to spot targets, and observe and relay ballistic data.

STOVL

Acronym for Short Take-off and Vertical Landing. Refers mostly to jump jets

Stratocracy

A governmental system where government officials must be enlisted into the country's military.

Subsonic

Travelling slower than the speed of sound.

Sub machine gun

A small machine gun that fires pistol-grade calibers (9mm, .45ACP, 5.7mm, etc.).

Supersonic

Travelling faster than the speed of sound.

Suppressor

Synonymous with "silencer". A device attached to and/or around a gun barrel to lessen its sound signature and flash. The added weight tends to slightly reduce recoil. The capturing of propellant gasses and subsequent increase in pressure tends to slightly increase muzzle velocity.

SWAT

Acronym for Special Weapons And Tactics. A term for a police force that applies military weapons and tactics to a situation.

Synthetic

Made in an artificial manner.

Synthetic food bar

An edible, compressed bar of synthetic food with significant nutritional value. Comes in a variety of usually artificial flavors.

T

Tank

Heavily armored vehicle that usually has at least three axles. Most commonly refers to MBTs, which have caterpillar tracks and a large-bore cannon.

Tanker

Personnel who operate inside of a tank.

TOW

Acronym for Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided.

U

Unitary

A form of government projection of power where laws are ultimately made, deleted and enforced by only the highest authority in the government. This is in contrast to the federal system where smaller areas are allowed to form their own laws that do not legally interfere with the higher powers' laws.

Unmanned

Lacking a driver/pilot. Vehicle operates itself autonomously using artificial intelligence.

V

VTOL

Acronym for Vertical Take-Off & Landing. Refers to helicopters and jump jets.

W

Wire-guided

A guidance system that uses thin wires strung between projectile and gun to relay ballistic data and corrections. Usually employs a SACLOS guidance command.

Contents:	Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z