Explore topic-wise fullforms in Military and Defence

INFO: Full form for RWS is Revolutionary War Service in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for RWS is Rigid Wall Shelter in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for RWS is Re-configurable Workstation in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for AIFF is Advanced Identification Friend of Foe in Military and Defence category
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The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

From the middle decades of the 17th century, and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century, it was the world's most powerful navy until the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire. Owing to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, to refer to it as "the Royal Navy" without qualification. Following World War I, it was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of World War II it was still the world's largest. During the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines and mostly active in the GIUK gap. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and it remains one of the world's foremost blue-water navies.

The Royal Navy maintains a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships, submarines, and aircraft, including two aircraft carriers, two amphibious transport docks, four ballistic missile submarines (which maintain the nuclear deterrent), six nuclear fleet submarines, six guided missile destroyers, 12 frigates, 11 mine-countermeasure vessels and 26 patrol vessels. As of August 2021, there are 75 operational commissioned ships (including submarines as well as one historic ship, HMS Victory) in the Royal Navy, plus 11 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA); there are also five Merchant Navy ships available to the RFA under a private finance initiative. The RFA replenishes Royal Navy warships at sea, and augments the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship vessels. It also works as a force multiplier for the Royal Navy, often doing patrols that frigates used to do.

The Royal Navy is part of Her Majesty's Naval Service, which also includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord who is an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom. The Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Royal Navy operates from three bases in Britain where commissioned ships and submarines are based: Portsmouth, Clyde and Devonport, the last being the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, as well as two naval air stations, RNAS Yeovilton and RNAS Culdrose where maritime aircraft are based.

INFO: Full form for RWS is Revolutionary War Soldier in Military and Defence category
RWS also has other full forms in other categories mentioned below.

INFO: Full form for RWS is Rawinsonde Subsystem in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for SFG is Synthetic Ground Facility in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for SFG is Security Forces Group in Military and Defence category
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Special Forces Group may refer to:

INFO: Full form for VPD is Version Planning Document in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for VDS is Video Display System in Military and Defence category
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Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. Two types of technology share the name "sonar": passive sonar is essentially listening for the sound made by vessels; active sonar is emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used for robot navigation, and SODAR (an upward-looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations. The term sonar is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low (infrasonic) to extremely high (ultrasonic). The study of underwater sound is known as underwater acoustics or hydroacoustics.

The first recorded use of the technique was by Leonardo da Vinci in 1490 who used a tube inserted into the water to detect vessels by ear. It was developed during World War I to counter the growing threat of submarine warfare, with an operational passive sonar system in use by 1918. Modern active sonar systems use an acoustic transducer to generate a sound wave which is reflected from target objects.

INFO: Full form for GRASP is Graphical System for Presentation in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for GRASP is General Retrieval and Sort Processor in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for RIN is Radiation Information Network in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for GC is Gaining Command in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for GC is Guarded Command in Military and Defence category
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INFO: Full form for GC is Green Camouflage in Military and Defence category
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