NATO Phonetic Alphabet
The international spelling alphabet used by aviation, military, and emergency services.
Letters A – Z
Numbers 0 – 9
What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?
The NATO phonetic alphabet — officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet — assigns a standardised word to each letter of the Latin alphabet. Its purpose is to avoid confusion when spelling out letters over voice communications such as radio or telephone, where similar-sounding letters (B/D, M/N, S/F) can be misheard.
Who uses it?
The alphabet is used by NATO military forces, international civil aviation (ICAO), maritime communications (IMO), emergency services, police, and customer service representatives worldwide. It was formally adopted in 1956 after extensive intelligibility testing across different languages and accents.
Why "Juliett" with two t's?
The spelling "Juliett" (rather than "Juliet") prevents French speakers from omitting the final t sound, ensuring uniform pronunciation across all languages.
Numbers in radio communication
Numbers are also standardised: "Nine" becomes "Niner" to distinguish it from the German word "nein" (no), and "Five" becomes "Fife" to distinguish it from "fire" in some accents.