Sky Masters

Puerto Princesa — the main city and capital of the island province of Palawan in the Philippines

RC-135X — a version of the Strategic Air Command’s series of strategic reconnaissance aircraft, specifically designed to locate, classify, and target enemy surface-to-air missile sites

RCS — radar cross-section, the apparent size of a target on a radar, referring to the ability of a radar to detect a target at a given range; mostly a function of the size and structural composition of the target

RED FLAG — a large-scale tactical air war game exercise held several times a year at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, involving hundreds of aircraft from all over the world

RHAWS — Radar Heading and Warning System, a display in many modern fighter aircraft that warns of the presence, direction, and type of enemy radars

RIO — Radar Intercept Officer, the “backseater” in an F-14 Tomcat carrier-based fighter responsible for locating enemy targets

RK-55 — standard twenty-kiloton tactical nuclear warhead designed in the Soviet Union and used extensively by many Soviet client countries

ROE — Rules of Engagement, the set of orders briefed to military personnel (usually fighter pilots) on when they may attack enemy forces; designed so that commanders may have strict control of a situation at all times, but also to provide maximum protection for crew members on the scene

RON — Remain Overnight; usually referring to an unplanned diversion

RPG — rocket-propelled grenade, usually an antitank weapon carried by infantry RTB — Return To Base

SA-2 — Soviet long-range surface-to-air missile system; older system, capable only against high-altitude targets

SA-11 — Soviet medium-range, high-performance surface-to-air missile system

SAC — Strategic Air Command, primary long-range air offensive military organization in the United States, responsible for land- based strategic bombers, long-range land-based nuclear missiles, aerial refueling tankers, and long-range strategic reconnaissance and communications aircraft

SATCOM — Satellite Communications System, the U.S. Air Force’s primary satellite communications system

SCARAB — (F), Self Contained Air Relocatable Alert Booster, a highly transportable small space booster system designed to quickly launch lightweight satellites into Earth orbit from any location

Sea Ray — small, inexpensive air-launched antiship missile, usually carried by helicopters based on naval vessels

SECDEF — Secretary of Defense, a member of the President’s Cabinet who makes the day-to-day decisions in all defense matters

Shuihong-5 — principal Chinese amphibious patrol and attack aircraft

SIOP — Single Integrated Operations Plan, the multi-service attack plan for all American military forces for the conduct of a strategic nuclear war

SITREP — Situation Report; usually refers to a request for a quick summary of a battle or the status of forces involved in a battle

SLAM — Standoff Land Attack Missile, the TV-guided version of the AGM-84 Harpoon missile

SM-2 — Standard Missile, the primary surface-to-air missile on large Navy warships

SMFD — Super Multi Function Display, a large aircraft instrument computer display that presents flight information in a pictorial icon-based format instead of alphanumerics

SPACECOM — Space Command, the Air Force major command responsible for all military space activities

SPO — Senior Project Officer, the director of a particular weapon- development project

Spratly Islands — a chain of small islands, atolls, and coral reefs in the South China Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam, long contested by several nations because of its strategic position and because of its natural resources

SPY-1 — primary three-dimensional radar system of the Aegis battle group air-defense system

SR-71 — “Blackbird” strategic reconnaissance aircraft, the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft ever built; retired in 1989 from the Strategic Air Command

SRAM — Short Range Attack Missile, a nuclear-armed inertially guided attack missile carried by B-52, B-l, FB-111A, and B-2 bombers

SS-25 — Primary Soviet-made nuclear-armed mobile intercontinental ballistic missile

START — Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a proposed treaty between the U.S. and the USSR to limit the number of long-range strategic nuclear weapons by both sides

STRATFOR — Strategic Forces group, a team of Strategic Air Command commanders deployed ahead of a combat group to establish a headquarters team and set up support operations for combat aircraft

STRC — Strategic Training Range Complex, an extensive series of low-level navigation corridors, radar bomb-scoring sites, live bombing ranges, and fighter-intercept exercise areas in the north- central United States, operated by the Strategic Air Command for bomber aircrew training

STS — Shuttle Transportation System, the official name of the Space Shuttle program