B

B

bel (preferred)

B

(Chem.) boron.

B & W

(Photog.) black and white

b.

bacillus, black, blue, book, born, breadth, brother

B.

bay, bible, British, brotherhood, bachelor

B. A.

Bachelor of Arts

B. A. U.

(Elect. Eng.) British Association unit

B. Arch. or BArch.

bachelor of Architecture

B. B. A.

Bachelor of Business Administration

B. B. C.

British Broadcasting Corporation

B. C.

Before Christ, Bachelor of Chemistry – British Colombia

B. C. E.

Bachelor of Civil Engineering

B. C. I.

Bachelor of Canon Law, Bachelor of Civil Law

B. C. S.

Bachelor of Commercial Science

B. Ch. E.

Bachelor of Chemical Engineering

B. D.

Bachelor of Divinity

B. D. C.

(Eng.) bottom dead centre

B. D. S.,

Bachelor of Dental Surgery

B. E.

Bachelor of Education- Bachelor of Engineering

B. E. F.

British Expeditionary Force(s)

B. E. M.

British Empire Medal

B. Ed.

Bachelor of Education

B. F.

Bunsen Flame

B. F. A.

Bachelor of Fine Arts

b. f. or bf.,

boldface.

B. G.

(Eng.) Birmingham gauge

B. H. N.

(Eng.) Brinell Hardness Number

B. H. P.,

b. h. p.

brake-horse-power

B. J.

Bachelor of Journalism

B. L.

Bachelor of Laws

B. L. S.

Bachelor of Library Science

B. Lit.

Bachelor of Literature

B. LL.

Bachelor of Laws

B. M.

Bachelor of Medicine, British Museum

B. M.

board measure

B. M. E.

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering,

Bachelor of Mining Engineering

B. M. E. P.

(Eng.) brake mean effective pressure

B. Mus.

Bachelor of Music

B. O.

Branch office

B. P. E.

Bachelor of Physical Education

B. Ph. or

B. Phil.

Bachelor of Philosophy.

b. r or B/R.

bills receivable

b. s.

balance sheet, bill of sale

B. S.

Bachelor of science, Bachelor of Surgery

B. S. A.

Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture Boy Scouts of America

B. S. G.

(Eng.) British Standard Gauge.

B. S. I.

(Eng.) British Standard Institution

B. S. L.

below sea level

B. T.

Or B. Th.

Bachelor of Theology

B. T. U

(Elect. Eng.) Board of Trade Unit

B. t.u. or

B. Th. U.

(Eng.) British thermal unit

B. V.

Blessed Virgin

B. W. G.

(Eng.) Birmingham Wire-Guage

B. W. I.

British West Indies

B.& S. W. G.

(Eng.) Brown and Sharp Wire Gauge

B., Bé

Baumé

B.Litt.

Bachelor of letters

b.p.

bills payable, boiling point.

b.p., B.P.

boiling point, back pressure

B.s & w.

(Pet. Eng.) basic sediments and water

B.Sc.

Bachelor of Science

b/d

brought down

B/D

bank draft

B/E,

Bill of Exchange

b/f

brought forward

B/L

bill of lading

B/N

Bombardier/Navigator

b/w

bandwidth

Ba,

(Chem.) barium.

BAAF

Bahrain Amiri Air Force

Bab.

Babylonian

bact.

bacterial, bacteriology, bacterium

BAD

African Development Bank

BADEA

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa

BADGE

base air defense ground equipment

BAI

Battlefield Air Interdiction

bal.

balance

Bamboo Tree

Communications and location system (US)

Bancroft

Radio communications system with encryption (US)

BAP

Bridge adaptor pallet

bar.

barometer, barometric

BARC

Beach amphibious resupply cargo

BARCAP

Barrier Combat Air Patrol

Barrel

That part of a gun through which the projectile is launched and given direction.

Bart. or Bt.

Baronet

BARV

Beach armored recovery vehicle

BAS

Basic Allowance for Subsistence

BATES

Battlefield Artillery Target Engagement System

Bav.,

Bavarian

BB

battleship

BBBG

Battleship Battle Group

BBE

Bridge boat erection

bbl.

barrel, barrels

bbr

bomber

BCAR

British Civil Airworthiness Requirements

BCC

battery control center

BCD

Bio-Chemical Detector

BCE

Battlefield Coordination Element

BCIE

Central American Bank for Economic Integration

BCP

battery control post

bd

baud

bd.

board, bound, bond

Bd. ft.

board foot, board feet

BDA

Bomb Damage Assessment

Bde

Brigade

BDEAC

Central African States Development Bank

bdgt

budget

bdl.

bundle.

BDO

Battledress Overgarment (protective clothing)

BDU

Battle Dress Uniform

BDV

(Elect. Eng.) break down voltage

BE or BEN

Basic Encyclopedia (number)

Be,

(Chem.) beryllium.

BEEF

Base Engineer Emergency Force

bef.

Before

Belg.

Belgian – Belguim

BEML

Bharat Earth Movers Limited

Benelux

Benelux Economic Union

Beng.

Bengali.

BER

bit error rate

bet.

Between

BETA

battlefield exploitation and target acquisition

BEV,

billion Electron Volt

BFA

Blank Firing Attachment. Device fitted to the muzzle of an automatic weapon to restrict the exit of gas from the barrel when firing blank cartridges and thus provide sufficient pressure to actuate the weapon's self-loading cycle.

BFO

Beat Frequency Oscillator

BFTA

Bulk fuel tank assembly

BG

battle group

bg.

bag.

BGM

multiple launch environment surface attack missile designator

bhd

Bulkhead

bhp

Brake horse power

BHP

(Pet. Eng.) bottom hole pressure.

Bi,

(Chem.) bismuth

bib.

Bible, biblical.

bibliog.

bibliographer, bibliography

BIDS

Biological Integrated Detection System

biochem.

Biochemistry

biog.

biographical, biography

BIRD

Biological Identification Refinement Device

birotative

Having two components rotating in opposite directions.

BIS

Bank for International Settlements

BIT

built-in test

BITE

built-in test equipment

Bk.

(Chem.) berkelium

bkg.

banking

bkgd.

Background

bks.

barracks, books

bkt.

basket, bracket

bl.

bale, bales, barrel, barrels

bladder tank

Fuel (or other fluid) tank of flexible material.

BLC

Boundary-layer control.

bldg.

Building

blisk

Blade plus disc (of turbine engine) fabricated in one piece.

blk.

black, block

blo.

brought over

bls.

Bales

BLT

Battalion Landing Team

BLT

Bridge laying tank

BLU

Bomb live unit

Blvd.

Boulevard

BM

ballistic missile

BMC{3}

battle management command, control, and communications

BMD

ballistic missile defense

BMEWS

ballistic missile early warning system

BMP

Soviet armored personnel carrier

BMS

Battalion Mortar System

BMS

Bombardment Squadron

BMW

Bombardment Wing

bn

battalion/billion

bn.

Battalion

BND

German Federal Intelligence Service

BOFI

Bofors Optronic Fire control instrument

Bohem.

Bohemian.

Boil.

biblogical, biology

Bopd

(Pet. Eng.) barrels of oil per day.

Boph

(Pet. Eng.) barrels of oil per hour

bor.

borough, (Chem.) boron

bot.

botanical, botanist, botany

botan.

botanical.

BOW

Basic operating weight

BP

(Eng.) blue print.

bp.

baptized, birthplace, bishop

BPD or b/d

barrels per day

BPDMS

basic point defense missile system

BPH

barrel per hour.

BPI

boost phase interceptor

BPR

Bypass ratio.

BPSK

binary phase shift keying

Br,

(Chem.) bromine

br.

branch, bronze, brother.

Br.

Britain, British.

BRAC

Base Realignment Committee

BRACIS

Biological, Radiological and Chemical Information System

Braz.

Brazil, Brazilian

BRE

Battlefield recovery and evacuation

Breech

Rear end of the weapon barrel, into which the ammunition is loaded.

Bret.

Breton.

brig.

brigade, brigadier

brig. gen.

brigadier general

Brit.

Britain, British

brl.

barrel.

brl.

barrel

bro.

brother, brothers.

bros.

brothers

Bruin

Tactical communications system (UK)

BRW

Brake release weight, maximum permitted weight at start of T-O run.

BS

British Standard(s)

Bs

(Surv.) back sight, (Pet.) bottom settings,

bottom sediments

BSEC

Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone

bskt.

basket

BTG

Basic Target Graphic

btry.

Battery

bty

battery

bu.

bureau, bushel, bushels

BUIC

back-up intercept control (for air defense)

Bulg.

Bulgaria, Bulgarian

bulk cargo

All cargo not packed in containers or on pallets.

bull.

bulletin

bur.

Bureau

BVR

Beyond Visual Range

bvs.

business, bushel, bushels

bvt.

brevet, brevetted

BW

Biological Warfare

BWC

Biological Weapons Convention

BWPD

barrels of water per day

BWPH

barrels of water per hour

BWR

Basic wind report(s)

bx.

Box

bypass ratio

Airflow through fan duct (not passing through core) divided by airflow through core.

Byte

A group of eight memory bits (q.v.) which can be used to designate one character. This provides two to the power eight (256) combinations which can be used to specify letters, numbers, symbols and so on, in coding systems such as ASCII, ANSI, and so forth.

BZ

Benactyzine