P

P

pawn, (Chem.) phosphorus, pressure

p.

page, part, participle, past, penny, per peseta

 peso, piano, pint, pipe, pitch, pole, population

 post, port power, pro

P. A. U.

Pan American Union

P. and L.

profit and loss

p.a.

annually

p.c.

percent, petty cash, postal card

P.C.

pett cash, police constable, privy council

P.D.

by the day

P.E.

probable error

P.E.N.

International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists

P.G.

postgraduate

P.G.A.

Professional Golfers’ Association

P.H.

public health, Purple Heart

P.L.

partial loss, private line

p.m.

post meridiem

P.M.

paymaster, permanent magnet, postmaster, postmortem, prime minister, provost marshal

P.N.

promissory note

P.O.

petty officer, postal order, post office

P.O.B. or POB.

post office box

P.O.D.

pay on delivery, post office department

p.q.

previous question

P.Q.

Province of Quebec

P.R.

Proportional representation, public relations,

Puerto Rico

P.R.O.

puplic relations officer

P.S.

postscript, public school

p.s.f.

pounds per square foot

p.s.i.

pounds per square inch

P.T.O.

please turn over

P.W.

prisoner of war

P.W.A.

Public Works Administration

P{3}I

preplanned product improvements

PA

Power Amplifier

PA

Public Affairs

Pa

(Chem.) protactinium

PA system

Public or passenger address.

Pa.

Pennsylvania

PAAMS

Principal anti-air missile system

PABX

private automatic branch exchange

PAC

penetration aid carrier

Pac.

Pacific

PACCS

Post Attack Command and Control System (USA)

PACOM

Pacific Command

PADS

position and azimuth determining system

PAL

permissive action link

pam.

pamphlet

Pan.

Panama

PAO

Polyalphaolefin

PAO

Public Affairs Officer

PAR

phased-array radar

par.

paragraph, parallel, parenthesis, parish

para

paratroop / parachute

PARC

Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting

PARCS

perimeter acquisition radar characterization system

Parkhill

Portable secure speech equipment (US)

part.

participle, particular

Pascal

SI unit of pressure = 1 Nm{-2}.

pass.

passenger, passive

pat.

patent

path. or pathol.

pathological, pathology

Pave Paws

phased-array radars

pax

passenger/passenger transport aircraft (in Military Balance)

payt.

payment

PB

Patrol boat (includes OPVs and US Coast Guard cutters)

PB

Pyridostigmine bromide

PB (CG)

Coast Guard Patrol Vessel

PB (Pol)

Police Patrol Vessel

Pb,

(Chem.) lead

PBCR

River Patrol boat

PBV

post boost vehicle

PBW

Power-by-wire.

PBX

Private Branch Exchange

PC

personal computer

pc.

piece, prices

PCA

Permanent Court of Arbitration

PCAS

Persistent Chemical Agent Simulant

PCB

printed circuit board

PCC/I/O/R/H

patrol craft, coastal /inshore/ offshore/riverine/harbor (in Military Balance)

PCITF

Positive Combat Identification Task Force

PCM

Pulse code modulation

pcs.

 pieces

pct.

percent

PCU

portable control unit

PD

project definition. A phase in an equipment project after a feasibility study and before full development and production

Pd

(Chem.) Palladium

PD radar

Pulse Doppler.

pd.

paid

PDM

Pursuit deterrent mine

PDMS

point defense missile system

pdr

pounder

PDRM

Portable Dose Rate Meter

PDRY

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]; used for information dated before 22 May 1990 or CY91

PE

Plastic explosive

PEG

Polyethylene glycol

pen.

peninsula

penaids

Penetration aids, such as jammers, chaff or decoys to help aircraft fly safely through hostile airspace.

Penn. or Penna.

Pennsylvania

PEP

peak envelope power

per.

period, person

perf.

perfect, perforated

perh.

perhaps

perm.

permanent

perp.

perpendicular

PERS

Pilot Eye Respiratory System

pers.

person, personal

Pers.

Persia, Persian

PERT

progress evaluation and review technique. Often summarized in the form of a chart or charts showing critical and other paths of various project stages and activities

pet.

petroleum

PETN

Pentaeryhtrytoltetranitrate. A high explosive used in cannon projectiles.

petrol.

petrology

pF

Picofarad

pf.

pfennig, preferred

PFC

Parapet foxhole cover

PFC

Private First Class

PFC/I/O

fast Patrol craft, coastal/ inshore/ offshore (in Military Balance)

PFCS

Primary flight computer system.

pfd.

preferred

PFF

preformed fragmentation

PFIB

Perfluoroisobutene

PFM

Pont Flottant Motorize

PFM/T

fast patrol craft, SSM/ torpedo (in Military Balance)

PFP

Partnership for Peace

PFT

Prefabricated foxhole - twin

pg.

page

Pg.

Portugal, Portuguese

PGG

Patrol craft with SSM (in Military Balance)

PGM

Precision Guided Munitions

Ph

Hit probability

ph

(Chem.) phenyl

ph.

phase

Ph. B.

 Bachelor of Philosophy

Ph. C.

Pharmaceutical Chemist

Ph. D.

 Doctor of philosophy

phar.

pharmacopoeia, pharmacy

pharm.

pharmaceutical, pharmacist, pharmacy

Pharm. D.

Doctor of Pharmacy

Pharm. M.

Master of Pharmacy

PHEI

penetration high explosive incendiary

PHI

Position and heading (or homing) indicator.

PHIGS

programmer's hierarchical interactive graphics system

phil.

philosophical, philosophy, philol., philological,

 philology

Phila.

Philadelphia

philos.

philosopher, philosophical, philosophy

PHM/T

hydrofoil, SSM/torpedo (in Military Balance)

phon.

phonetics

photog.

photographic, photography

phr.

phrase

PHS.

Public Health Service

phys.

Physical, physician, physics

physiol.

physiologist, physiology

PI

Product improvement

pi. or pias.

piaster

PIBD

Point Initiating, Base Detonating. A type of fuse used with shaped charge projectiles and which is located at the tip of the projectile in order to strike the target first, but which initiates the shaped charge from the rear end.

PIF

pilotage en force (control by thrust)

PIHM

Protective Integrated Hood Mask

Pilgrim

Secure communications program (US)

PIN

Primary Identification Number

PIP

product improvement program

pizz.

pizzicato

pj.

pajama

PJH

PLRS/JTIDS Hybrid (USA)

Pk

Kill probability

pk.

pack, park, peak, peek

pkg. or pkge.

package

PKO

peacekeeping operation

pkt.

packet

pkwy.

parkway

Pl

platoon

PL and R.

postal laws and regulations

pl.

place, plate, plural

plat.

plateau, platoon

plf.

plantiff

PLL

Phase Locked Loop

PLO

Palestine Liberation Organization

PLRS

Position Locating Reporting System

PLS

Palletized load system

PLS

Palletized Loader System

PLSS

Precision Location Strike System

Plt

Platoon

plu.

plural

PLV

Program Loader Verifier

PM

Program/project/product Manager

pm.

premium

Pm.

(Chem.) promethium

PMAL

Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory

PMAWS

passive missile approach warning system

PMC

Partially Mission Capable

PMEL

Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory

pmk.

postmark

PMT

Pastoral Ministry Team

pmt.

payment

PNVS

Pilot Night Vision System

Po,

(Chem.) polonium

POET

primed oscillator expendable transponder

POG

Psychological Operations Group

POI

probability of intercept

POL

Petroleum (Petrol), Oil and Lubricants

pol.

Political

Pol.

Poland, Polish

polit.

political, politician

poly. or polytech.

polytechnic

POMCUS

Pre-positioning of Material Configured to Unit Sets

POMINS

Portable mine neutralization system

pon.

pontoon

POP

Pipeline outfit, petroleum

pop.

popular, popularly, population

por.

portrait

port

Left side, looking forward.

Port.

Portugal, Portuguese

pos.

position, positive

poss.

possessive

POST

passive optical seeker technology

pot.

potential

POTS

production off-the-shelf

POW

Prisoner of War

POW.

prisoner of war

p-p

peak to peak

pp.

pages, past participle, postpaid, prepaid

PPB&G

Positive Pressure Breathing and Gravity

ppd.

postpaid, prepaid

PPI

plan position indicator

ppm

parts per million

PPP

purchasing-power parity

pps

pulses per second

ppt.

precipitate

pptn.

precipitation

Pr

(Chem.) Praseo dymium, (Chem.) propyl

pr.

pair, pairs, paper, power, preference, preferred,

present, price, priest, printed, printing, pronoun

Pr.

Prince

PRC

People's Republic of China

prec.

preceding

pred.

predicate

pref.

preface, preference, preferred, prifx

prelim.

preliminary

prem.

premium

prep.

preparatory, prepare, preposition

prepd.

prepared

prepg.

preparing

prepn.

preparation

PREPO

Pre-positioned

prepreg

Glassfiber cloth or rovings pre-impregnated with resin to simplify layup.

pres.

present, president

prev.

previous

PRF

pulse repetition frequency

prf.

proof

PRI

pulse repetition interval

prim.

primary, primitive

prin.

principal

priv.

privative

prob.

probable, probably, problem

proc.

proceedings

prod.

production

prof.

proffessor

PROM

Programmable Read-Only Memory

pron.

pronoun, pronounced

prop.

probeller, property, propostion

pros.

prosody

prot.

protestant

prov.

province, provincial, provisional

prox.

proximo

PRR

Production Readiness Review

prs.

pairs

PS

Chloropicrin

ps.

pieces

PSA

Prefabricated surface, aluminium

PSC

principal surface combatant

PSDN

packet switched digital network

pseud.

pseudonym, psedonymos

psi

Pounds per square inch

PSK

Phase Shift Keying

PSLV

polar satellite launch vehicle

PSP

programmable signal processor

PSSSU

power supply and system selector unit

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network

PSU

power supply unit

psych.

psychological, psychology

psychol.

psychologist, psychology

PSYOP

Psychological Operation

PSYOPS

Psychological Operations

Pt

(Chem.) platinum

pt.

part, payment, pint, pints, point, port

 pta.

peseta

Ptarmigan

Tactical mobile area communications system (UK)

PTAS

Provisional Tactical Airlift Squadron

pte.

private

PTFE

Polytetrafluoroethylene

ptg.

printing

PTO

Power take-off

pts.

parts, payments, pints, points, ports

PTT

Press-To-Talk, or Post-Telegraph and Telephone administration

PTU

Protection Training Unit

pty.

proprietary

Pu.,

(Chem.) plutonium

pub.

public, publication, published, publisher, publishing

publ

public

publ.

Publication, published

PUFFS

Passive underwater fire control system

pulse Doppler

Radar sending out pulses and measuring frequency-shift to detect returns only from moving target(s) in background clutter.

PVC

polyvinyl chloride. A plastic material.

PVO

Homeland Defense Force (Russia)

pvt.

private

PWHQ

primary war headquarters

PWR

Pressurized water reactor

pwr.

power

PWRS

prepositioned war reserve stocks

pwt.

Pennyweight

pylon

Structure linking aircraft to external load (engine nacelle, drop tank, bomb etc).