Glossary
55 terms used on the maps and in the briefs.
- A2/AD
- Anti-access/area denial: layered missiles, air defenses, sensors and naval forces meant to keep an opponent out of a region or make operating inside it very costly.
- ADIZ
- Air defense identification zone: an area of airspace, often extending beyond a country's territorial airspace, in which that country asks aircraft to identify themselves. Entering one is not the same as violating sovereign airspace.
- Air defense
- Weapons and sensors used to detect and destroy aircraft, drones and missiles, from shoulder-fired launchers to long-range surface-to-air missile systems.
- Airspace violation
- Entry by a military or state aircraft into another country's sovereign airspace without permission. It is different from entering an ADIZ.
- Airstrike
- An attack by aircraft or helicopters on a ground or sea target, using bombs, missiles or guns.
- Anti-ship missile
- A guided missile designed to strike vessels at sea, launched from land, ships, submarines or aircraft.
- Armistice
- A formal agreement to stop fighting that does not by itself end the state of war. The 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement is the best-known example.
- Artillery
- Large-caliber guns, howitzers and rocket launchers that fire on targets at a distance, usually out of direct sight of the target.
- Ballistic missile
- A missile that is boosted to high speed and then follows a mostly unpowered, arcing trajectory to its target. Ranges run from tens to thousands of kilometers.
- Blockade
- The use of force to stop ships, aircraft or goods from entering or leaving an area. Under international law a blockade is an act of war.
- Buffer zone
- An area between opposing forces kept free of troops or heavy weapons, by agreement or by force.
- Casualties
- People killed, wounded, missing or captured. In military usage the word is not a synonym for deaths.
- Ceasefire
- An agreement by warring parties to stop fighting, which may be local, temporary or general. It does not resolve the conflict and can break down.
- Ceasefire line
- The line where opposing forces stand when a ceasefire takes effect, often monitored and sometimes marked on the ground.
- Chaff
- Clouds of small metallic or metallized strips released by aircraft or ships to confuse radar and decoy radar-guided missiles.
- Chronolocation
- Establishing when a photo or video was taken, using clues such as shadows, weather, seasons and changes visible in satellite imagery.
- Counter-battery fire
- Artillery fire aimed at an enemy's artillery, usually after its position has been located by radar, drones or sound-ranging.
- Cruise missile
- A missile that flies under power for its whole flight, often low and along a programmed route, more like an unmanned aircraft than a rocket.
- Demilitarized zone
- An area where an agreement bars military forces or installations. The strip between North and South Korea is the best-known example.
- Electronic warfare
- The use of the electromagnetic spectrum to attack, protect or exploit: jamming radios and navigation signals, spoofing GPS, and detecting enemy emitters.
- Fiber-optic drone
- An FPV drone controlled through a thin optical fiber that unspools behind it, which makes it immune to radio jamming.
- Flares
- Hot-burning decoys ejected by aircraft to draw away heat-seeking missiles.
- FPV drone
- First-person-view drone: a small, cheap, fast drone flown through a live camera feed, usually carrying an explosive charge and used against vehicles, positions and soldiers.
- Front line
- The boundary between areas held by opposing forces. In practice it is a zone of positions and contested ground, not a single line.
- Geolocation
- Establishing exactly where a photo or video was taken by matching visible features to maps and satellite imagery.
- Glide bomb
- An aerial bomb fitted with wings and guidance so it can be released from a distance and glide to its target, keeping the launching aircraft farther from air defenses.
- Gray zone
- Ground that no party firmly controls, such as contested settlements or the space between opposing positions. The term is also used for coercion below the threshold of open war.
- Humanitarian corridor
- A route agreed by warring parties for the temporary safe passage of civilians or aid.
- Hypersonic weapon
- A missile or glide vehicle that travels at more than five times the speed of sound for much of its flight and can maneuver, making interception harder.
- IED
- Improvised explosive device: a homemade bomb, often placed along roads or triggered remotely.
- Insurgency
- An organized armed campaign against a government by a group that seeks to overthrow it, gain autonomy or control territory, usually avoiding open battle.
- Intercept
- In air policing, sending fighter aircraft to identify, escort or turn away an aircraft. In air defense, destroying an incoming missile or drone.
- Interceptor
- A missile or aircraft designed to destroy incoming missiles, drones or aircraft.
- Internally displaced person
- Someone forced to flee their home who remains inside their own country. A refugee, by contrast, has crossed an international border.
- Jamming
- Deliberately transmitting radio noise or false signals to block communications, drone control links or satellite navigation.
- Kill zone
- The band near the front where drones and artillery can see and strike almost any movement, making it very dangerous to cross or hold.
- Line of contact
- The line along which opposing forces face each other. In some conflicts it is also the formal name for a ceasefire line.
- Loitering munition
- A drone that carries its own warhead, flies over an area until it finds a target and then dives into it. Sometimes called a kamikaze drone.
- MANPADS
- Man-portable air defense system: a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile used against low-flying aircraft, helicopters and drones.
- MLRS
- Multiple launch rocket system: a launcher that fires a salvo of rockets, from short-range unguided rockets to long-range guided ones.
- No-fly zone
- Airspace in which a power declares that certain aircraft may not fly, and which it is prepared to enforce by force.
- Non-state armed group
- An armed organization outside a state's formal military and police, such as an insurgent group, militia or ethnic armed organization.
- Order of battle
- The structure, units, strength and equipment of an armed force at a given time.
- OSINT
- Intelligence work done with publicly available information, such as social media posts, satellite imagery, tracking data and public records.
- Pincer
- An attack from two directions that aims to meet behind an enemy position and cut it off.
- Proxy
- An armed group or state that fights with the backing of an outside power, which supplies money, weapons, training or direction.
- Refugee
- A person who has fled their country because of war, violence or persecution and crossed an international border.
- Salient
- A part of the front line that bulges into enemy-held territory and is exposed on several sides.
- SEAD
- Suppression of enemy air defenses: operations to disable or destroy air defense radars and launchers so that aircraft can operate.
- Siege
- Surrounding a town or position and cutting it off from supplies and reinforcements to force its surrender.
- SITREP
- Situation report: a regular summary of the current situation, events and changes in an area or operation.
- Spoofing
- Sending false signals, often fake satellite navigation signals, so that a receiver calculates the wrong position or time.
- Truce
- A temporary pause in fighting, often short and limited to a purpose or a holiday.
- VBIED
- Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device: a car or truck bomb.