Glossary term
CSWS (corps support weapon system)
TERM SUMMARY
CSWS is the NATO abbreviation for corps support weapon system. NATO's glossary of acronyms and abbreviations lists the term, gives its French equivalent, and attributes the entry to NASG.
- Why it matters
- CSWS stands for corps support weapon system . It is a NATO military abbreviation, listed in NATO's Glossary of NATO acronyms and abbreviations (AAP-15), which gives the full English expansion alongside a French...
- Category
- Canadian government procurement terminology
- Reference role
- This term page is designed to be linkable, crawlable, and easy to quote or summarize.
CSWS stands for corps support weapon system. It is a NATO military abbreviation, listed in NATO's Glossary of NATO acronyms and abbreviations (AAP-15), which gives the full English expansion alongside a French equivalent.
The glossary entry establishes the name of the term and the NATO body it is attributed to. For a Canadian supplier or bid team, that makes CSWS a piece of allied defence vocabulary. This page sets out what the glossary says, where to verify NATO terminology, and how CSWS differs from other weapon-system abbreviations used in Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) documents.
What the NATO glossary says about CSWS
The 2013 edition of AAP-15 lists CSWS and expands it as "corps support weapon system." The glossary is bilingual, so each entry carries both English and French forms.
- Abbreviation: CSWS
- English expansion: corps support weapon system
- French equivalent: système d'arme de soutien de corps d'armée
- Attribution: NASG
The entry is an abbreviation and its expansion. Details such as the platform, range or employment of a given system belong to the programme documents that a solicitation references.
The French equivalent for bilingual documents
Canadian federal solicitations and technical documents are routinely published in both official languages. The NATO glossary gives the French form as système d'arme de soutien de corps d'armée. Bid teams preparing bilingual responses, translated technical data or French-language correspondence can use this wording as the NATO-recognized equivalent of the English term.
Verifying NATO terminology through NATOTerm
NATO describes NATOTerm as its official terminology database. It holds non-classified military terminology as well as NATO-relevant non-military terminology. The NATO Terminology Office maintains it, and that office is part of the NATO Standardization Office.
When a document uses a NATO abbreviation you do not recognize, NATOTerm and the AAP-15 glossary are the reference points to check before you interpret the term in a bid.
Similar abbreviations in Canadian defence documents
DND uses several weapon-system abbreviations that are separate from CSWS. Do not treat them as interchangeable.
- CIWS means Close-In Weapons System. It appears in a DND announcement on weapons system support for Royal Canadian Navy ships.
- GMS/DGMS appears in Canadian Army artillery project reporting, including the M777 155 mm Lightweight Towed Howitzer project. See the 2014-15 status report on transformational and major Crown projects and the 2017-18 report on Crown projects.
Each of these terms has its own meaning in its own context. The NATO expansion of CSWS does not carry over to them, and theirs do not carry over to CSWS.
What CSWS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts
If CSWS appears in a tender document, statement of work or NATO-referenced standard, read it as corps support weapon system, the expansion in the NATO glossary. Use the solicitation's own definitions and referenced documents for any technical or compliance detail. Use the French equivalent when preparing bilingual material. Do not substitute CIWS, GMS or DGMS, which are separate DND terms.