Fire Support Coordinating Line (FSCL)A line established by the appropriate ground commander to ensure the coordination of fire not under the commanders control but may affect current tactical…
Fire Support Coordinating MeasureA measure employed by land or amphibious commanders to facilitate the rapid engagement of targets and simultaneously safeguard friendly forces.
Firing DoctrineThe ratio and manner of assigning numbers of interceptors against given attackers. One-on-one, salvo, shoot-look-shoot, shoot-fail-shoot, etc.
Firing RateThe amount of BTUs/hour or kWs produced by a heating system from the burning of a fuel.
FIRMRFederal Information Resources Management Regulation.
FIRSTForum of Incident Response and Security Teams.
First ArticleFirst article includes pre-production models, initial production samples, test samples, first lots, pilot models, and pilot lots.
First StrikeThe first offensive action of a war (generally associated with nuclear operations).
First Unit Equipped DateThe scheduled date an end item and its support elements are issued to the initial operational capability unit and training in the new equipment training…
Fiscal GuidanceThe annual guidance issued by the SECDEF in the Defense Guidance which provides the fiscal constraints that must be observed by the DoD Components in the…
FIX SiteFiring-in-Extension (Target Launch site in White Sands Missile Range Northern Extension).
Fixed CostsCosts that do not vary with the volume of business, such as property taxes, insurance, depreciation, security, and minimum water and utility fees.
Fixed Ground Entry Point (FGEP)The subset of GEPs, which are not transportable. GEPs provide the communications interfaces between the SDS space orbital/sub-orbital elements and the C2E.
Fixed Ground StationAll hardware, software, and facilities located at a fixed ground site necessary to receive, process, support, and analyze mission status and data, and…
FLAGEOBSOLETE. Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment. (Predecessor program to Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT).)
Flexible ResponseThe capability of military forces for effective reaction to any enemy threat or attack with actions appropriate and adaptable to the circumstances…
Flight PathThe line connecting the successive positions occupied, or to be occupied, by an aircraft, missile, or space vehicle as it moves through air or space.
Flight Readiness FiringA missile system test of short duration conducted with the propulsion system operating while the missile is secured to the launcher.
Flight TestTest of an aircraft, rocket, missile, or other vehicle by actual flight or launching.
Flight Test Vehicle (FTV)Prototype of airborne or spaceborne hardware used to validate a technology concept.
Fluence (or Integrated Flux)The product (or integral) of particle (neutron or photon) flux and time, expressed in units of particles per square centimeter.
Flyaway CostThe total cost related to the production of a usable end item of military hardware.
Focal PlaneThe plane, perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, in which images of points in the object field of the lens are focused.
Focal Plane Array (FPA)An FPA is a matrix of photon sensitive detectors which, when combined with low noise preamplifiers, provides image data for the signal frequencies of…
FogFine particles of liquid suspended in the air, such as of water in a fog chamber used for acclimatizing recent ex vitro transplants. See: mist propagation.
FOIAFreedom of Information Act -- see Electronic Freedom of Information Act for more
Folded OpticsAny optical system containing reflecting components for the purpose of reducing the physical length of the system or for the purpose of changing the path…
Follow-On Operational Test and Evaluation (FOT&E)That test and evaluation that is necessary during and after the production period to refine the estimates made during operational test and evaluation, to…
Force ClosureThe point in time when a supported commander determines that sufficient personnel and equipment are in the assigned area of operations to carry out…
Force Development Test and EvaluationTests employing representative users to examine definition of materiel requirements or support/assess development of doctrine, training, organization, and…
Force Development Test and ExperimentationTests employing representative users to examine definition of materiel requirements or support/assess development of doctrine, training, organization, and…
Force Integration Staff OfficerArmy individual assigned to ODCSOPS to serve as HQDA user representative for a specific system.
Force ManagementThe assessment of the effectiveness of the defense forces throughout an engagement and adjustment of tactics and the system configuration as necessary to…
Force ReliabilityThe percentage of the missile force that will successfully detonate within 3.5 CEPs of the target.
FORDTISForeign Disclosure Technical Information System.
Foreign Government InformationInformation that is (1) provided to the United States by a foreign government or governments, an internal organization of governments, or any element…
Foreign Military Sales (FMS)That portion of U.S. security assistance authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the Arms Export Control Act, as amended.
Foreign Security Policy ModelA mathematically precise statement of a security policy. To be adequately precise, such a model must represent the initial state of a system, the way in…
Form, Fit, and Function DataTechnical data pertaining to items, components or processes for the purpose of identifying source, size, configuration, mating and attachment…
Formal Qualification ReviewA systems level configuration audit conducted after system testing is completed to ensure that performance requirements have been met.
Formerly Restricted DataInformation removed from the RESTRICTED DATA category upon joint determination by DoE (or antecedent agencies) and DoD that such information relates…
FORSCOMU.S. Army Forces Command, Ft. McPherson, GA.
Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA)The foremost limits of a series of areas in which ground combat units are deployed, excluding the areas in which the covering or screening forces are…
Forward FundingCarry-over of RDT&E funding into second year of appropriations availability. Requires permission from high authority.