Descriptive Commentary (BRA/AREO Reports)

INTERCEPT PROCEDURES TEXTBOOK

Constant practice here at VT-86 will make voice communication with the pilot clear, concise

and effective.

Descriptive Commentary (BRA/AREO Reports)

The purpose of descriptive comm is to keep GCI, your wingman (when applicable) and the

pilot informed of the progress of the intercept. Specifically, you are giving the bogey's position

in relation to the fighter. In VT-86 there are two separate formats for formalized descriptive

comm. They are BRA and AREO reports.

BRA and Bullseye

As already mentioned, the BRA report is given to describe the contact's position, referenced

from the fighter's nose. The initial contact call to GCI/AIC should be in the BRA format and

should be as accurate as possible. This confirms and correlates with the controller that the

contact you have is in fact the bogey they intend for you to intercept. Subsequent BRA calls can

be made as appropriate during the intercept over the fighter formation's tactical frequency to

build SA for wingmen who may not have radar contact because their primary search

responsibility is in another altitude block. Remember, once identified as your bogey, subsequent

BRA calls continue to be considered as descriptive comm and will not take priority over

directive comm.

The initial BRA report consists of Bearing, Range and Altitude information, followed by the

word "declare," which queries the controller on the status of the contact and should be followed

by a response from them. It is a two-way communication over UHF. An example of a BRA call

with a declaration request attached to the end is "Sweep BRA 100, 22, medium, declare." Sweep

is the tactical call sign of the fighter, and the BRA and declaration information follows. The

fighter can expect one of four responses to the declaration request: "Stand-by" meaning

weapons release authority is not available but may be released shortly; "Hostile, engage" -

weapons release is authorized; "Bandit" - confirmed enemy, weapons release not authorized,

"Bogey" - unknown contact, proceed with intercept, weapons release not authorized.

The bearing information is given in terms of magnetic bearing from the fighter to the bogey.

If, for example, the fighter is heading 130 and the bogey appears at 30 left angle off, the bogey's

magnetic bearing is 100 degrees.

The Range information in the BRA report is the miles from the fighter to the bogey. The

fighter does not have to state the word "miles" as it is understood in the BRA format that the

second number is the range in miles.

The Altitude information is given in relation to the bogey's altitude in 1000s of feet. This

information is not given as a hard number, but as a block of altitude of high, medium or low.

Different fighter communities may define high, medium, and low differently. Here at VT-86, the

low altitude block runs from 0-11,999 feet, medium block is from 12,000-19,999 feet, and the

high block is 20,000 feet and above.