NATO phonetic alphabet

The alphabet, A to Z

Each letter has one code word, chosen to sound unlike every other, so it survives static, wind and accents. Under each word is how to say it, with the stressed syllables in capitals.

A

AlphaAL FAH

B

BravoBRAH VOH

C

CharlieCHAR LEE or SHAR LEE

D

DeltaDELL TAH

E

EchoECK OH

F

FoxtrotFOKS TROT

G

Golfgolf

H

Hotelho TELL

I

IndiaIN dee ah

J

JulietJEW lee ETT

K

KiloKEY loh

L

LimaLEE mah

M

Mikemike

N

Novemberno VEM ber

O

OscarOSS cah

P

Papapah PAH

Q

Quebeckeh BECK

R

RomeoROW me oh

S

SierraSEE AIR rah

T

TangoTANG go

U

UniformYOU nee form or OO nee form

V

VictorVIK tah

W

WhiskeyWISS key

X

X-rayECKS ray

Y

YankeeYANG key

Z

ZuluZOO loo

How to use it

Use it whenever a mistaken letter would matter: names, call signs, grid references, addresses, license plates. Say the code words in order, not the letters:

• SMITHSierra Mike India Tango Hotel
• GRIDGolf Romeo India Delta

Speak at an even pace, pause between words, and if you're asked to repeat, spell it again the same way rather than switching to other words.

Numbers on the radio

Radio procedure has its own way of saying digits, so they can't be confused with each other or with words: three becomes "tree", five "fife", nine "niner". Read numbers digit by digit, so 35 is "tree fife".

0

ZE-RO

1

WUN

2

TOO

3

TREE

4

FOW-er

5

FIFE

6

SIX

7

SEV-en

8

AIT

9

NIN-er

Alfa, Juliett, Xray: the official spellings

This chart uses the spellings most people know. The official ICAO list writes Alfa for Alpha, Juliett for Juliet and Xray for X-ray. Alfa is spelled with an F so speakers of languages that don't read "ph" as F still say it right, and Juliett has a double T so French speakers don't drop the final letter as silent. Said aloud, they sound the same.

Where it came from

The alphabet was drawn up for international aviation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), testing words with speakers of many languages, and the current version took effect on 1 March 1956. NATO adopted it too, which is where the everyday name comes from, and it's now used across aviation, shipping, the military, emergency services and amateur radio.