Abbreviations

The following was copied from The Egosoft FAQ

A TLA is a Three Letter Acronym. Not all the acronyms used have three letters, of course!

Ships

Ship Classes

Ships are divided into classes according to their purpose. Most races have at least one type of ship in each class.

M0	Planet-killer (not used in Terran Conflict)
M1	Carrier
M2	Destroyer
M3(+)	Heavy fighter (Improved)
M4(+)	Medium fighter (Improved)
M5	Scout
M6	Corvette
M7	Frigate
M7M	Missile Frigate
M8	Bomber
TS	Transport Small
TL	Transport Large (can transport station kits)
TP	Transport Personnel/Passenger
TM	Transport Military (a small carrier ship)
OWP	Orbital Weapons Platform
LT	Laser Tower
NavSat	Navigation Relay Satellite
AdvSat	Advanced Satellite

Ship Variants

For smaller ships, most races have some variants of the basic ship types. Not all races have all variants available to buy at ship yards, and some don't even exist in a normal game.

Fighters can have up to four variants, typically having the following characteristics (though there is some variation so these rules do not always hold). Raider Faster, less shielding and less cargo Vanguard Faster, sometimes less shielding, sometimes better weapons Hauler Slower, more cargo space Sentinel Slower, more shielding, sometimes less cargo space	Small freighters may also have variants, again depending on race and again with not all variants being available for all ships. Hauler Slower, more shielding, more cargo space Miner Slower, more shielding, more cargo space Tanker Slower, more shielding, more cargo space Tanker (larger version) Even slower, more shielding, more cargo space Super-freighter Even slower, more shielding, more cargo space Super-freighter (larger version) Even slower again, even more shielding, even more cargo space
Certain ships also come in 'heavy, 'prototype', 'advanced' or 'enhanced' variants - this usually indicates an upgraded version of the basic ship.
Ship Equipment Levels When buying smaller ships at a shipyard, different levels of equipment are available. Not to be confused with cargo classes (or the size of the ship!). S No weapons, minimum shielding M Basic weapons, medium shielding L More weapons, maximum shields	Ship Nicknames A few ships have standard nicknames. Examples include: Elly Ellie Split Elephant Oddy Paranid Odysseus HCP Argon Heavy Centaur Prototype TLS Goner Truelight Seeker Aggie Aggy Paranid Agamemnon Hyp Paranid Hyperion Vanguard Disco Argon Discoverer Iggy IV Split Iguana / Iguana Vanguard
Transport Classes Cargo Class Cargo Class Code Meaning S Small M Medium L Large XL Extra Large ST Station Transport Sizes Ship Class Code Meaning Maximum Cargo Capacity TP Personnel Transport M - XL TM Military Transport XL TS Small Transport XL TS+ Heavy Super Freighter XL TL Large Transport ST
Ship Equipment Weapons CFA Cluster Flak Array CIG Concussion Impulse Generator EBC Energy Bolt Chaingun (E)EMPC (Experimental) Electro-magnetic Pulse Cannon FAA FLAK Flak Artillery Array FBC Fusion Beam Cannon (experimental weapon) FBL Fragmentation Bomb Launcher FD Fighter Drone GC Gauss Cannon HEPT High-Energy Plasma Thrower IBL Incendiary Bomb Launcher IC Ion Cannon ID IonD Ion Disruptor IPG Ion Pulse Generator ISR Ion Shard Railgun IRE Impulse Ray Emitter KYON AKYON BKYON GKYON Kyon Emitter (Kha'ak ships only) (P)M/AM (P)M/AL (Prototype) Matter/Anti-matter Launcher MD Mass Driver MDS Mobile Drilling System PAC Particle Accelerator Cannon PALC Phased Array Laser Cannon (experimental weapon) PBC Plasma Beam Cannon (lasertower weapon) PBE Pulsed Beam Emitter PBG Plasma Burst Generator (flamethrower) PPC Photon Pulse Cannon PRG Phased Repeater Gun PSG Phased Shockwave Generator PSP Point Singularity Projector (P)SSC (Prototype) Starburst Shockwave Cannon TB Tractor Beam TBC TBLC Tri-Beam Laser Cannon (experimental weapon)
Shields The type of a shield is indicated by a number showing its maximum strength. 1MJ 1,000KJ 5MJ 5,000KJ 25MJ 25,000KJ 200MJ 200,000KJ 1GJ 1,000,000KJ 2GJ 2,000,000KJ	Equipment These are a few of the many kinds of equipment that can be installed on a ship. CLS Commodity Logistics Software CLS CLSS Cargo Life Support System JD Jumpdrive UFJD Unfocussed Jumpdrive SETA Singularity Engine Time Accelerator SOS System Override Software SSS Software Signature Scrambler VEG VEGs Video Enhancement Goggles
Stations There are many different types of space stations in the game, but only a few types have commonly-used abbreviations. CF Crystal Fab EQ EqD ED Equipment Dock GT Goner Temple OM SM Ore/Silicon Mine PAP Pirate Anarchy Port PB Pirate Base PHQ Player Headquarters SPP Solar Power Plant SY Shipyard TCHQ TerraCorp Headquarters TD TS Trading Dock/Station	Sectors A few of the sectors in the game also have common abbreviations. AB Akeela's Beacon AP Argon Prime BHS Black Hole Sun CBNW CBSW CBSE Cloudbase North West/South West/South East EoL Elysium of Light GF Getsu Fune HoL Home of Light IZ Ianamus Zura KE Kingdom End Knnn Kha'ak Sector nnn (e.g. K931) NH Nyana's Hideout OB Ore Belt OL Omicron Lyrae PE President's End PP Paranid Prime TUS Terran Unknown Sector US Unknown Sector Uxx.yy Unknown Sector at map co-ordinates xx,yy Xnnn Xenon Sector nnn (e.g. X101)
General And finally a few miscellaneous items. AI Artificial Intelligence (usually refers to the computer's ships) AL Artificial Life Cap Slang term for capturing other ships CTD Crash To Desktop DPS Damage per Second ETA Estimated Time of Arrival (used in ship menus) FAQ Frequently Asked Questions GOD Global Decision Engine HUD Heads Up Display IS In Sector (i.e. the sector you are personally in) [L] Indicates that you have a Police Licence with the race the letter appears next to MORT Manually Operated Remote Trader MTR Manual Trade Run NPC Non Player Character (usually refers to the computer's ships) OOS Out of Sector (i.e. a sector you are not personally in) OOSD Out of Sector Defence (defence of the above) SE Script Editor TC Terran Conflict Transport Class UO Unknown Object UFO Unidentified Flying Object XI XIM Xenon Invasion (a mission type) LT ST UT Local/Sector/Universe Trader (Trade Command Software Mk3 commands) CAG Commercial Agent (Used in stations and complexes).