Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

The Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, most often referred to as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet or simply the Phonetic Alphabet, is the most commonly used group of code words used to clearly communicate the letters of the Roman alphabet, particularly over the radio.

Its formal name is the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet however, 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.