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NATO Phonetic Alphabet Translator

Spell any word in the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie) or decode it back to text. Western Union and LAPD alphabets are included too. How it works

Use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Translator

Reference Table - NATO

AAlfa
BBravo
CCharlie
DDelta
EEcho
FFoxtrot
GGolf
HHotel
IIndia
JJuliett
KKilo
LLima
MMike
NNovember
OOscar
PPapa
QQuebec
RRomeo
SSierra
TTango
UUniform
VVictor
WWhiskey
XX-ray
YYankee
ZZulu

About the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Translator

The NATO phonetic alphabet spells each letter with a code word: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. It is the ICAO International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, in force since 1 March 1956. Type text and this translator writes it out in code words, or enter code words to turn them back into letters.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it spelled Alfa and Juliett, not Alpha and Juliet?
Those are the official ICAO spellings, chosen so that people who do not know English spelling say them right. Alfa avoids "ph", which speakers of some languages would not read as an f sound, and Juliett ends in a double t so that French speakers do not treat a single final t as silent.
Can it translate the NATO phonetic alphabet back to English?
Yes. Switch the mode to Phonetic to Text and enter the code words: Charlie Alfa Tango gives CAT. The everyday spellings Alpha and Juliet are accepted as well as the official Alfa and Juliett. Decoded text comes back in capitals, and a word that is not a code word is kept as typed.
How are numbers said in the NATO phonetic alphabet?
In ICAO radiotelephony some digits are said differently so they survive a bad channel: 3 is Tree, 4 is Fower, 5 is Fife and 9 is Niner. Pick NATO (aviation numbers) to get those forms, so BA359 becomes Bravo Alfa Tree Fife Niner; plain NATO writes digits as Zero to Nine. Decoding takes either form.
Can it read the spelling out loud?
Yes, where the browser has speech built in: Listen reads the code words with the device's own voice, at Slow (0.6x), Relaxed (0.8x), Normal or Fast (1.25x). When encoding it reads the output, when decoding the code words you typed. The voice and its accent depend on the device.
What are the Western Union and LAPD alphabets?
Two older American spelling alphabets built on names and everyday words. Western Union runs Adams, Boston, Chicago, Denver; the LAPD one runs Adam, Boy, Charles, David. Pick either in the Alphabet menu and the table under the translator lists all 26 letters. In Western Union, Z and 0 share the word Zero, so decoding Zero always gives 0.
Does it include the German phonetic alphabet (Buchstabiertafel)?
No. It has the NATO alphabet (with or without the aviation number words), Western Union and LAPD. The NATO alphabet is the international one, used on aviation and marine radio whatever language the speaker uses.

Spelling a booking code, plate or email address by phone

A booking reference such as B7K is read out as Bravo Seven Kilo, so the person on the other end cannot hear B as D or K as A. For an email address, [email protected] comes out as Juliett Oscar @ X-ray Decimal Charlie Oscar Mike: the @ has no code word, so you say "at" yourself, and NATO writes the dot as Decimal.

To check what someone spelled to you, switch to Phonetic to Text and type the words you heard. Listen reads the code words aloud with your device's built-in voice, at four speeds.

How each character is written

Each letter, digit and listed punctuation mark is swapped for its code word, and the words are separated by spaces. NATO uses Alfa, Bravo, Charlie; Western Union uses names and places such as Adams, Boston, Chicago; LAPD uses Adam, Boy, Charles. Digits are written Zero to Nine, except in NATO (aviation numbers), which uses the ICAO radio forms Tree, Fower, Fife and Niner for 3, 4, 5 and 9: BA359 becomes Bravo Alfa Tree Fife Niner.

Punctuation differs by alphabet. A full stop is Decimal in NATO and Stop in the other two; a question mark is Question Mark, Query or Question. A space is written [Space]. Any other character, such as é, @ or an emoji, is kept as typed, in capitals where it has one.

Decoding reads the code words in any case, accepts Alpha and Juliet as well as the official spellings, and either form of the four digits, and gives capitals. Words it does not know are kept as typed and run into the result, so Sierra hello Two decodes to SHELLO2. In Western Union both Z and 0 are Zero, and decoding always gives 0; both brackets are Parenthesis, and decoding gives (.

Fun Fact: ICAO put the final version of the alphabet into force on 1 March 1956, after comprehension tests with speakers of 31 nationalities.

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