GaryG (asker) Sep 9, 2008:

I now have three successive tables with абс more common than вбс; in all instances (and in no other) there are entries for one side (NATO or WP) but not the other. абс appears in both rows containing only a NATO entry and rows containing only a WP entry

sarandor Sep 9, 2008:

I've found something, but not sure 3.3 АРТИЛЛЕРИЙСКАЯ БАЛЛИСТИЧЕСКАЯ СТАНЦИЯ АБС-1 АБС-1 служит для определения в полевых условиях начальной скорости снарядов (мин) в диапазо- не от 80 до ...
window.edu.ru/window_catalog/pdf2txt?p_id=5210&p_page=6 - 66k - Cached - Similar pages

Военная Россия - [ Translate this page ](Начальная скорость снаряда, м/с), Длина, м (масса, кг) .... 1 Р — револьверная; ВБС — с вращающимся блоком стволов; Л — ленточная; ...
fly.hausnet.ru/spravochnik/menu/c04-1.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

Another note about абс: in another table it appears in the соотношение column in the "multipurpose aircraft carriers" row where the entry is NATO - 1 and the WP "-" (SIC), so it's not necessarily nuclear-related.

Is there a Russian abbreviation for "N/A" (not applicable) similar to абс? That might provide a clue

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

вбс appears twice; and then there's абс

The NATO entries are 86, 48, and 38 (the first is a total, the latter two are for sectors).
Indeed абс appears in a similar row, в т. ч. носители, so both appear to be nuclear-related.
Perhaps the "с" = снаряд?

Alexander Onishko Sep 8, 2008:

What is in the NATO column for " в т. ч. атомные." ?

Natalia Potashnik Sep 8, 2008:

Could it be a typo and вбс is actually ВВС?

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

...and I suspect from some of the quirky Russian that, like some of the other documents in this batch, the document was written by a native Polish speaker

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

The date of this document is 1977, if that helps :-)

Deborah Hoffman Sep 8, 2008:

I should have known...Do you have a year for the document and which side authored it?

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

No, there's no mention of money. This is part of a military exercise plannng document. Yeah, I found that expansion, too :-)

Deborah Hoffman Sep 8, 2008:

It's definitely the no. of launchers and not sum expenditures? I found a ВБС for Внебюджетные средства here: http://slovari.yandex.ru/dict/voinaimir/article/yandex_new/1...

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

the abbreiviation appears in the last category, в т. ч. атомные.

By the way, I also found the abbreviation абс in other nuclear-related fields in the next table, such as "ВВС, в т.ч. носители [nuclear weapons] platforms

Alexander Onishko Sep 8, 2008:

it is essential to know what is this category where вбс appears?

GaryG (asker) Sep 8, 2008:

Correlation of forces For instance, the # of NATO launchers is given as 60; the WP # is 76; the соотношение is given as 1:1.2

Deborah Hoffman Sep 8, 2008:

I've found some interesting things, though not your item (boxing anyone? alien bugs?). Just clarifying - the second column is entitled sootnoshenie? I don't know why, I just can't get a mental image.