Anti-aircraft fire = guns or missiles fired from the ground at aircraft overheard - also known as "flak"
Assets = bombs
Blue on blue = a term used to describe an accidental attack on someone who's fighting on the same side
Tracers
Casualty = someone who is either wounded or killed in fighting or bombing - this can be a soldier or an ordinary person
CentCom = the place where coalition missions are planned, called Central Command. It is in Doha, Qatar - another country in the middle east, not far from Iraq
Civilians = people who are not in the armed forces
Coalition forces = armed forces from different countries who share the fighting and are fighting for the same reasons
Coalition of the willing = American term for the countries involved in the Iraq conflict.
Collateral damage = damage to anything you didn't mean to target - this can include humans which is why it's a term which is seen by many as insensitive
Convoy = a group of ships or vehicles travelling together under armed protection
Embedding = the 500 journalists who are based within US and UK military units, living and travelling with them before and during the war are embedded.
Firefight = battles involving gun fire
Scud missile and launcher
Fog of war = the confusion that often surrounds military action
Friendly fire = see Blue on blue
Guerrilla warfare = small groups of soldiers fighting small battles, often firing on larger groups of soldiers then running away to hide
Hawks and doves = a hawk is someone who believes in using soldiers to solve problems like Iraq. A dove is someone who would rather try and find a solution by talking
Hearts and minds = winning over the Iraqi people to believe in the coalition forces and understand that they will not hurt them
Installation = military or industrial building - in the Iraq conflict, it's usually used to describe oil fields and military targets
Intelligence = secret information collected about an enemy
Medivac = this is short for medical evacuation, which means removing an injured soldier from the battlefield very quickly so they can get medical help
POW = stands for prisoner of war
Reconnaissance = this is when the military watches and checks out an area to get information about it, usually for a while - sometimes shortened to "recce," or "recon"
RPG = Rocket Propelled Grenade. An explosive which, rather than being thrown, is fired by a launcher
Rules of engagement = important rules about fighting wars that soldiers are supposed to obey
Scud = a short range ballistic - or flying - missile launched from big mobile launchers
Shock and awe = the term the Americans are using to describe their massive bombing campaign
Sortie = a small raiding party usually sent out to check things out before a proper attack - can be air or ground raids
Tracers = bullets which glow so soldiers know where they are firing - not all the bullets do this
Iraq war: hour by hour updates
How do you feel now war has started?
War jargon quiz
