Expect No Mercy Helicopter Gunnery Skills Test (HGST) Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, terms, and acronyms from the HGST lecture transcript.

HGST

Helicopter Gunnery Skills Test study guide/manual for aviation gunnery training.

Pre-engagement planning

Planning done before an engagement to reduce exposure time and predictability to threats.

LOS exposure

Time the aircraft remains exposed to an adversary’s sensors and weapons; minimize it.

ASE protection

Aircrew Protective/Survivability measures and equipment to reduce threat effects.

Standoff range

Distance from a threat that allows safe engagement/or avoidance of its weapons.

ACM

Air Combat Maneuvering; tactical aircraft maneuvers to gain advantage over opponents.

Movement to contact

Offensive task focused on gaining enemy contact and initiating maneuver.

Attack

Offensive task aimed at engaging and destroying or suppressing the enemy.

Exploitation

Offensive task to exploit success and develop the situation.

Pursuit

Offensive task to defeat and destroy fleeing or retreating enemy forces.

Fundamentals of movement to contact

Focus enemy efforts, gain contact early, maintain contact, sustain combat power, and achieve the commander’s intent.

Battalion employment methods

Continuous attack; Phased attack; Maximum destruction.

AMC

Air Mission Commander; develops the attack plan for aircraft after ground coordination.

TPMR

Technique of weapons delivery; Pattern/direction; Munitions; Ranges.

TRP

Target Reference Point used to direct fires at a specific location.

Fire distribution methods

Closest TRPs, quadrants, fire patterns, target array, priority fire zones, and sectors.

Recon fundamentals

Ensure continuous reconnaissance; don’t keep assets in reserve; orient on objective; report info rapidly; retain maneuver freedom; gain/maintain enemy contact.

Recon push

Active, directed effort to obtain information or fire support.

Recon pull

Request information or assets through sensors or observers.

Zone reconnaissance

Directed effort to obtain detailed information on all routes, obstacles, terrain, and enemy forces within a defined zone.

Area reconnaissance

Recon focus on detailed terrain or enemy activity within a prescribed area.

Route reconnaissance

Focus on routes, obstacles, and sectors of travel to support movement.

Reconnaissance in force (RIF)

Air-ground operation to discover or test enemy strength, dispositions, and reactions.

Concealed deployment

Camouflaged or covert deployment of aircraft during reconnaissance with survivability challenges.

Nap-of-the-earth flight

Low-altitude flight that follows terrain to conceal aircraft signatures.

Orbit technique

360-degree reconnaissance around a point or small area.

Security operations (five forms)

Screen, Guard, Cover, Area security, Local security.

Screen

Security element passes contact to protect main body while observing and reporting.

Guard

Security task to protect a specific objective or route.

Cover

Security task to protect the main body by fighting to gain time and observe.

Area security

Security task to protect forces, installations, and routes within a defined area.

Local security

Security task focused on protecting a local area or installation.

Security fundamentals

Provide early warning; provide reaction time and maneuver space; orient on protected force; continuous reconnaissance; maintain enemy contact.

Recon handover

Passing contact and information between reconnaissance elements using cueing, mixing, and redundancy.

Attack reconnaissance handover method (cueing, mixing, redundancy)

Procedures to maintain enemy contact during handover between elements.

Successive screens

Planning multiple security screens in sequence to deepen protection and maneuver space.

Ground tactical plan

The focal point of planning for air assault operations.

Attack reconnaissance aircraft

Agents that provide security, reconnaissance, and fires en route and on objective.

WEZ

Weapon Engagement Zone; 3-D space plus time for engagement.

RMIN

Minimum engagement range within the WEZ.

RMAX

Maximum engagement range within the WEZ.

Azimuth limits

Lateral engagement limits within WEZ, adjusted by terrain.

Elevation limits

Vertical engagement limits within WEZ, adjusted by terrain.

ABF

Attack By Fire; one of NORMA-based target selections for engagement.

SBF

Support By Fire; a secondary firing position selection based on NORMA.

NORMA

Nature of the target, Obstacles, Range to target, Multiple firing positions, and Area to maneuver.

BRASSCRAF

Background, Range, Altitude, Shadows, Sun/Moon, Concealment, Rotor wash, Area to maneuver, Fields of fire.

Firing techniques (5)

Hover, Running, Diving, Low altitude bump, Diving/running fire.

4-Ts

Target, Torque, Trim, and Target—a checklist for stable firing.

Pull Off distance

Breakaway distance to exit the engagement envelope and maintain safety.

Shot pattern calls

Shooter/shooter; Shooter/cover; Shooter/looker.

Attack pattern types (7)

Racetrack, Cloverleaf, Figure-8, Butterfly, L-turns, 45-degree, wheel/circular.

TPMR briefing format

Technique, Patterns, Munitions, and Ranges used in attack planning.

DIDEA

Detect, Identify, Decide, Engage, Assess—the fires decision cycle.

Buddy Laser

Simplified remote engagement technique using buddy-lasing within a flight.

Kill standards

Mobility kill; Firepower kill; Combined mobility and firepower kill; Catastrophic kill.

RF jammer types

Self-protection jammer; Escort jammer; Stand-off jammer.

Danger close REDs

Danger close red zones focus on primary fragments; secondary fragmentation can cause urban casualties.

Indication to actions on contact

Threat data flow: indication, evasive maneuver, and actions on contact (continue/abort).

MUM-T

Manned/Unmanned Teaming—integration of manned and unmanned assets.

Ballistics types

Interior, Exterior, Aerial, Terminal.

Port-starboard effect

Left-right drift/shift interactions require aiming adjustments to compensate.

Projectile jump

Muzzle direction not aligned with relative wind causing projectile jump.

Terminal ballistic considerations

Surface conditions, warhead, impact angle, vibrations, sights, boresights.

Fragmentation vs spall

Fragmentation is primary kill mechanism; spall is debris from the target causing damage.

33 knots downwash effect

At ~33 knots, the influence vector moves aft, reducing downwash to near zero.

IHADSS lead-angle compensation

When IHADSS is selected, lead-angle compensation may not be computed.

TSE

Target State Estimator; seven-state Kalman filter estimating target range/velocities for guidance and handover.

AWS safety and laser range

Minimum safe laser engagement range is 620 m; power laser only when AWS is used.

IHADSS fault handling

With IHADSS failure and gun selected, gun remains at last command; firing inhibited.

M230E1 rate of fire

625 ± 25 rounds per minute.

Gun System Controller (GSC)

Controls AWS functions: burst limits, turret movement, rounds count.

Gun turret movement

Azimuth up to 86° left/right; elevation from +11° to -60°.

GUN fault MISTRACK

GUN AZIMUTH MISTRACK or GUN ELEVATION MISTRACK faults disable the gun.

Power loss handling

Gun automatically moves to +11° elevation and stows on power loss to prevent damage.

Gun duty cycle

Six 50-round bursts with 5 seconds between bursts, then 10 minutes cooling; other cycles vary.

Harmonization

Alignment procedures between 500 and 1500 meters from the target.

M789 round

Steel-cased 30mm round producing explosively driven fragments.

M156 white phosphorus warhead

Used for marking targets and incendiary purposes.

M264 red phosphorous warhead

Primarily used to create a smoke screen.

M255A1 flechette

Fragmenting projectiles optimized for soft or marshy terrain to attack dismounted foes.

M156/M257 firing ranges

Minimum/maximum ranges and lighting effects (M257 illumination specifics).

MK66 rocket motors

6PD/6RC/6MP/6IL/6SK/6FL warheads; ranges and effects vary with motor type.

Rockets firing restrictions (inboard/outboard)

Do not fire from inboard stations; limit outboard pairs to three seconds/apart or fire from one outboard without restrictions.

Longbow Hellfire (SAL/RF/Hellfire) restrictions

Confirm active missile type; select SAL; ensure target and designation data are correct; adhere to range and arming rules.

Trajectory options (SAL I/II and P+/R)

DIR, LOFT, FLAT for I/II; DIR, LOFT, FLAT for P+/R variants.

PC (Planned Commander) authority

Final authority to fire; must announce 'Cleared to Fire' before weapons release.

Edge of constraint considerations

Firing near edge reduces the probability of hit; align with target line to maximize Pk.

LOBL and LOAL constraints

LOBL: ±20°; LOAL: ±7.5° (C–N) or ±30° (P+/R model).

Arming requirements

Missile arming occurs when acceleration exceeds 10 G.

LOB L max range

LOB L max range: about 7.0 km to a target at same altitude.

AGM-114R IBFS warhead

IBFS warhead provides HEAT, thermobaric, and blast fragmentation effects.

AGM-114L RF Hellfire

Inertial guidance with active RF seeker; detects RF jamming and can switch to Home on Jammer.

AGM-114L5 variant

L5 variant with ECCM against RF jammers; can switch modes to Home on Jammer if jammed.

Rifle, Out call

Sequence to engage; issuer signals Ready/Time of Flight and Laser On for LOAL when needed.

Laser On call

Call indicating laser guidance will be active for LOAL engagements.

RF handover (RFHO)

Transition from TADS guidance to RF guidance for missile engagement.

RF HO timing requirement

RF handover must occur within about 6 minutes of IDM buffer arrival.

TSD/FCR target icons

Target type and moving/stationary status shown on Tactical Situation Display and Fire Control Radar overlays.

MTI vs STI targets

Moving Target Indicator (MTI) tracks moving targets; STI tracks/stations targets; MTI generally higher Ph.