ADREN –
Nicaraguan Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (a.k.a. 15th of September Legion) was part of the rebels commonly called the Contras.

Aegis Combat System -
The Aegis system was designed as a total weapon system, from detection to kill. The heart of the system is an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-function phased-array radar, the AN/SPY-1. This high powered (four megawatt) radar is able to perform search, track and missile guidance functions simultaneously with a track capacity of over 100 targets.

AGM-114 -
See Hellfire.

AGM-65 –
See Maverick.

AGM-84 –
See Harpoon.

AGM-88 –
See Harm.

AH-64 –
The Apache (AH-64) is the army’s primary attack helicopter. This weapon system proved extraordinarily effective during the Gulf War as target after target was destroyed.

Range: 400/1,900 km (iunternal/external tanks)

Speed: 153 knots

Armament:

M230 33mm Chain Gun (really nasty)

70mm Hydra rockets

Hellfire (anti-tank)

Sidearm (anti-radar)

Sidewinder (air to air)

AIM-120 –
See AMRAAM.

AIM-54 –
See Phoenix.

AIM-7 –
See Sparrow.

AIM-9L ­
- See Sidewinder.

AK-47 –
This is the most widely used assault rifle in the world. It is a testament to the genius and durability of Timofeevvich Kalashnikov’s design. Fires the 7.62 x 39mm cartridge, which is basically .30. Bullet weight ranges from 120 – 150 grains. Magazine capacity ranges from 5 to 50. Everyone should have the chance to try one of these guns.

AK-74 –
This gun has several variants from a paratrooper version to a short-barreled SMG. It fires a different caliber 5.45mm, which is very close to the NATO 5.56mm found in the M16 and M249 SMG.

Al-Abbas –
This has also been called the SCUD-D. Allegedly these are banned by the terms of the Gulf War Cease Fire Agreement (yeah, I got this bridge in Brooklyn too). This is a long range SCUD that places all of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz in range. However, these missiles tended to lose stability during re-entry towards their target.

Range: 900 km

Warhead: conventional HE and unconventional (CW/BW for sure, Nuclear maybe)

Al Amn al-Khas –
Iraq’s Special Security Service also know as Presidential Affairs Department. This is the palace guard responsible for the most sensitive and secretive projects. These people are vicious and brutal thugs, who have ruled Iraq for over twenty years employing the most brutal repression imaginable. It is obvious they are students of the Gestapo, the KGB and the MSS. Colonel Taha Duri plays an important part in Point of Honor and Scorched Earth. I think I toned down his viciousness, because I feared it would be viewed as caricature.

Al-Hussein –
The al-Hussein is a SCUD-C variant developed by North Korea and Iraq. The range is less than the Al Abbas, and it suffers from the same problems.

Al Qaeda -
Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the Soviet’s 1979 Christmas invasion. By 1982, he was actively supporting the Mujahideen, and he played an increasingly dominant role in the organization of the Guesthouse at Peshawar. The Guesthouse served as the first stop for Arab Mujahideen recruits prior to entering jihad against the Soviet or entering training camps. By 1986, Osama expanded the Guesthouse to more than a dozen training camps inside Afghanistan—he called it al-Qaeda.

AMRAAM –
The AMRAAM has an all-weather, beyond-visual-range capability. It improves the aerial combat capabilities of U.S. and allied aircraft to meet the future threat of enemy air-to-air weapons. AMRAAM serves as a follow-on to the AIM-7 Sparrow missile series. The new missile is faster, smaller, and lighter, and has improved capabilities against low-altitude targets. It also incorporates an active radar in conjunction with an inertial reference unit and micro-computer system, which makes the missile less dependent upon the fire-control system of the aircraft. Once the missile closes in on the target, its active radar guides it to intercept.

Speed: Supersonic

Warhead: High Explosive, blast fragmentation

Anqing class –
This is the newest PLAN frigate class. There are 6 ships in this class. They have limited ASW capability, but are considered more powerful than the corresponding PLAN destroyer class.

Displacement: 2500 tons.

Maximum Speed: 27 knots.

Cruise speed: 18 knots.

Main armament:

2 x 100 mm guns

8 x 37 mm AAA

1 x HQ-61 SAM launcher

6 x YJ-1 (CSS-N-4) SSM

Aquila –
This was the first of the Army’s unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). It is a predecessor to the more widely known Predator. Aquila ran way over budget and did not ever live up to its primary mission to identify Soviet targets for Copperhead and conventional artillery munitions. Aquila made an appearance in Firewall.

Arzamas-16 –
Premier Soviet nuclear design and development center. This was a closed city from 1946-1996. This is the center where Andrei Sakharov developed the Soviet hydrogen bomb. This is the location for the development of the SAMSON weapon in Blood Covenant.

AS&T –
Applied Science & Technology produces practical (read military and espionage) applications for advanced technology.

ASAT –
Anti-satellite missile – see ASM-135A.

ASM-135A –
America’s only tested anti-satellite missile system. It is launched from specially wire F-15A fighters. According to a treaty with the former Soviet Union this weapon system is not supposed to exist. However, since the Soviets violated the same treaty more than 20 times, I hope we kept and enhanced our ASAT capability.

Aurora –
This is the unofficial designation for the successor to the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. If Aurora exists, then it is probably based at Nellis AFB also known as Groom Lake, Nellis Range II and Area 51.

Technology: Advanced Stealth

Maximum Speed: Mach 6+

Range: Worldwide

AWACS –
Airborne Warning and Control System is basically a flying Boeing 707 that has rotating radar dome along the fuselage spine and it is packed full of electronics. It is designed to direct hundreds of aircraft in both an offensive and defensive mode and has proven to be a very effective combat platform. It should be noted that the average flight time for Iraqi aircraft during the Gulf War was less than 40 seconds from wheels up to smithereens.

Douglas De Bono / DouglasDeBono.Com Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota E-Mail readermail@DouglasDeBono.Com