NATO Phonetic Alphabet

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet - or to give it its correct name - the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet is the most commonly used group of code words used to clearly communicate the letters of the Roman alphabet, particularly over the radio.

You may also hear the alphabet called the NATO Spelling Alphabet, the ICAO Phonetic Alphabet and the ICAO Spelling Alphabet. (ICAO being the International Civil Aviation Organization.)

The code words used, from a to Z are: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, Xray, Yankee and  Zulu.

Note that Alfa and Juliett are intentionally spelled ‘incorrectly’ to avoid any confusion caused by their original spellings - i.e. Alpha and Juliet - being mispronounced.