I have a couple of questions about the *“Angels 21” “Mud Spike” “Bandits” “Bogeys” *lingo used by American military aviators:
What’s the term for this “language,” for lack of a better way to put it?
Does anyone have any particular insight into how other countries do it? Does pretty much every air force in the world communicate in combat with their linguistic equivalent of, “Vector ____ Engage ____ at ____, (numbers numbers) (jargon jargon)?”
Jargon. Every profession has it, because they all need specialized terms to convey very specific information in the shortest amount of time/words.
AFAIK most NATO countries’ pilots (both military and civilian) speak in English over the comms regardless of nationality, and use NATO (i.e. US) terminology.
Isn’t the jargon originally English from WW1?
“Bogey’s in the weeds, not squawking.”
They’re called “brevity codes” and are intended to be a way for military people to convey certain standard information in a short and clear fashion to minimize radio chatter. They also serve as standardizing terms- “bandit” is widely understood to mean hostile aircraft, for example.
So if Maverick was going to shoot the MIG down with a Sidewinder, he’d say “FOX 2” when he fires, rather than “Firing a Sidewinder now.”, for example.
Here’s a list of them- don’t know if it’s complete though.
