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Military language is full of abbreviations, near-abbreviations, and acronyms. The word “Steal” for instance, comes from the military acronym for “Supplies Taken in Excess of Authorised Listing”.
To assist you on your travels through Tanks Encyclopedia, we have formulated this categorized alphabetical list:
Ammunitions
Note: Almost all of these ammo types may have a Tracer variant, this is identified in most cases as a “-T”. “AP-T, Armor-Piercing, Tracer” for instance.
AP |
Armor-Piercing |
AP-I |
Armor-Piercing, Incendiary |
APBC |
Armor-Piercing Ballistic Capped |
APC |
Armor-Piercing Capped |
APCBC |
Armor-Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped |
APCR |
Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid |
APCNR |
Armor-Piercing Composite Non-Rigid |
APDS |
Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot |
APFSDS |
Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding-Sabot |
APHE |
Armor-Piercing High-Explosive |
ATGM |
Anti-Tank Guided Missiles |
HE |
High-Explosive |
HEP |
High-Explosive, Plastic (American designation for HESH) |
HESH |
High-Explosive Squash-Head |
HEAT |
High Explosive Anti-Tank |
HEAT-FS |
High-Explosive Anti-Tank Fin-Stabilised |
HVAP |
High-Velocity Armor-Piercing |
KEP |
Kenetic Energy Penetrator |
SAPHE |
Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive |
SVDS |
Super-Velocity Discarding-Sabot (Another name for APDS) |
WP |
White Phosphorus, sometimes known as “Willy Pete” |
Vehicle Designations
AFV |
Armored Fighting Vehicle |
APC |
Armored Personnel Carrier |
ARV |
Armored Recovery Vehicle |
ASV |
Armored Security Vehicle |
AVLB |
Armored Vehicle-Launched Bridge |
BARV |
Beach Armored Recovery Vehicle |
CEV |
Combat Engineering Vehicle |
DD |
Duplex Drive (As in Sherman DD, amphibious mod) |
IFV |
Infantry Fighting Vehicle |
LAV |
Land Artillery Vehicle |
LPPV |
Light Protected Patrol Vehicle |
MBT |
Main Battle Tank |
MICV |
Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle |
MRAP |
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected |
SPAAG |
Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun |
SP |
Self-Propelled |
SPAT |
Self-Propelled Anti-Tank |
SPG |
Self-Propelled Gun |
SPH |
Self-Propelled Howitzer |
SPRG |
Self-Propelled Recoiless Gun |
TME |
Tactical Missile Erector |
TEL |
Transporter Erector Launcher (missile) |
Country Specific Names |
Germany, WW2: |
JgPz |
Jagdpanzer (Means “hunting tank”. Tank destroyer) |
PzKpfw |
Panzerkampfwagen (Tank) |
Sd.Kfz |
Sonderkraftfahrzeug (“special purpose vehicle”) |
Crew and Personel
Cdr/TC |
Commander/Tank Commander |
Ldr |
Loader (Traditionally, the Loader is known as the Cannonier, but this term is used extremly rarely) |
Gnr |
Gunner |
Tanker Jargon
Ass |
Tanks and armored vehicles |
Driver’s Hole |
A name given to the Drivers position |
Frog’s Eyes |
A name given to the stereoscopic range finders found on tanks like the M47, M48 Medium tanks, and M103 Heavy Tank |
Grunt Phone |
The infantry telephone mounted on the back of tanks that allows infantry to comunicate with the tank crew |
Gun Crutch |
British Term for the external gun Travel Lock |
Hull Monster |
The voids in the engine bay that has a habbit of swallowing the mechanic’s tools, nuts and bolts, etc. |
Little Joe |
The large wrench used to adjust track tension on US tanks such as the M3 Lee, M4 Sherman and M10 Wolverine. |
Ma Deuce |
The famous Browning M2HB .50 Cal. heavy machine gun. |
Pigiron |
(Pig-Iron) USMC slang for Tank
|
Tank Bite |
An injury sustained by getting one’s fingers caught and pinches in flaps, hatches or panels. |
Tanker Bar |
Long bar tapering to a wedge on one end used to open panels and assist in general maintenance. |
Turret Monster |
The void between the turret and hull that has a habbit of swallowing pens maps and other equipment. |
Wobble Stick |
The joy stick used to control speed and steer on tanks such as the M47 Patton. |
Measurments
ft |
Feet |
hp |
Horsepower |
hp/t |
Horsepower per ton, the measurement used in Power-to-Weight Ratios. |
kph |
Kilometers per hour |
kw |
Kilowatts |
m |
Meter(s) |
mm |
Millimeters |
mph |
Miles per hour |
p/w |
power-to-weight (engine ratio) |
rpm |
Revolutions Per Minute (engine) |
RPM |
Rounds Per Minute |
Other
AA |
Anti-Air |
AAA |
Anti-Aircraft Artillery |
BII |
Basic Issue Items |
CBRN |
Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear |
CDP |
Canadian Dry Pin tracks |
ERA |
Explosive Reactive Armor |
FCS |
Fire Control System |
FFE |
Fire For Effect |
FLIR |
Forward looking Infra-red |
GPMG |
General Purpose Machine Gun |
HMG |
Heavy Machine-gun |
IFCS |
Improved Fire Control System (ballistic computer with laser rangefinder) |
IFF |
Identification Friend or Foe |
IINF |
Image Intensifying Night Fighting |
IR |
Infra-red |
IRNF |
Infra-Red Night Fighting |
gas |
Gasoline (engine) |
LR |
Laser Rangefinder |
LWR |
Laser Warning Reciever |
MG |
Machine-gun |
NBC |
Nuclear, Biological, Chemical |
Pdr |
Pounder (As in 25, 17 or 6 Pounder gun) |
POL |
Petrolium, Oil and Lubricants (Commonly known as Class 3s in today’s Armed Forces) |
rf |
Rifled barrel (main gun) |
RHA |
Rolled Homogeneous Armour |
ROF |
Rate of Fire |
SAM |
Surface-to-Air Missile |
sb |
Smooth bore barrel (main gun) |
TI |
Thermal Imaging |
Nations
GBR, UK |
Great Britain/United Kingdom |
Services: |
RAF |
Royal Air Force |
RAC |
Royal Armored Corps |
REME |
Royal Electrical Mechanical Egineers |
RTC |
Royal Tank Corps |
RTR |
Royal Tank Regiment |
Departments: |
WD |
War Department |
MOD |
Ministery Of Defense |
JPN |
Japan |
Services, Imperial: |
IJA |
Imperial Japanese Army |
IJAAF |
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force |
IJN |
Imperial Japanese Navy |
Services, Modern: |
JSDF |
Japanses Self Defence Force |
JGSDF |
Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force |
JASDF |
Japanese Air Self-Defence Force |
JMSDF |
Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force |
RoC |
Republic of China |
PRC |
People’s Republic of China |
USA, US |
United States of America, United States |
Services: |
USA |
United States Army |
USAF |
United States Air Force |
USMC |
United States Marine Corps |
USSR |
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
4 replies on “Lexical Index”
The A1E1 Independent is listed twice. Just thought you would like to know.
I have a question, Was the jargon mentioned here used by the Germans during the Second World War, or is it only for Anglo-Saxon use?
Any terms listed under a national title are terms used or in use by that nation/s
TE Moderator
Thanks