Tool to translate / decipher / write messages via the NATO phonetic alphabet (also called the radio alphabet) generally used for telecommunications, based on american army radio alphabet.
NATO Phonetic Alphabet - dCode
Tag(s) : Communication System, Substitution Cipher
dCode is free and its tools are a valuable help in games, maths, geocaching, puzzles and problems to solve every day!
A suggestion ? a feedback ? a bug ? an idea ? Write to dCode!
The NATO phonetic alphabet is an alphabet created for oral telecommunications, in order to spell words correctly. The alphabet first used by the armed forces has spread to all national and international radio broadcasts and has been standardized by NATO. The principle is to spell a word or a name, letter by letter, using another word that is easily pronounced and without any possible ambiguity, the first letter of which corresponds to the letter to be spelled.
To encode a message using the NATO phonetic alphabet, replace each letter of the word to be spelled with the corresponding word in the phonetic alphabet.
The NATO correspondance table is (ICAO version 1956, updated 2018):
A | Alfa | B | Bravo |
---|---|---|---|
C | Charlie | D | Delta |
E | Echo | F | Foxtrot |
G | Golf | H | Hotel |
I | India | J | Juliett |
K | Kilo | L | Lima |
M | Mike | N | November |
O | Oscar | P | Papa |
Q | Quebec | R | Romeo |
S | Sierra | T | Tango |
U | Uniform | V | Victor |
W | Whiskey | X | XRay |
Y | Yankee | Z | Zulu |
0 | Zero | 1 | One |
2 | Two | 3 | Three |
4 | Four | 5 | Five |
6 | Six | 7 | Seven |
8 | Eight | 9 | Nine |
- | Dash | . | Stop |
Example: DCODE is spelled Delta Charlie Oscar Delta Echo
These words are internationally standardized and remain the same regardless of speaker or country, allowing for effective communication.
To decode a message encoded with the NATO phonetic alphabet, each word in the phonetic code must be replaced by the corresponding letter (which is all the easier since it is the first letter of the word).
Example: Alfa Lima Papa Hotel Alfa Bravo Echo Tango translates to ALPHABET
The message is theoretically an audio transmission (possibly coded in Morse code) with the presence of the words of the alphabet audible distinctly.
It is commonly used in aviation, military, emergency services and other fields requiring reliable radio communications.
Any reference to the army, military communications, civil aviation transmissions, radio amateurs etc. are clues.
Before NATO standardization in 1956, there were different phonetic alphabets for navies, air forces, and even telephone operators.
The word Alfa is written with an f rather than a ph to avoid confusion in languages where ph might be pronounced differently. This simplified spelling ensures a more consistent pronunciation internationally.
dCode retains ownership of the "NATO Phonetic Alphabet" source code. Except explicit open source licence (indicated Creative Commons / free), the "NATO Phonetic Alphabet" algorithm, the applet or snippet (converter, solver, encryption / decryption, encoding / decoding, ciphering / deciphering, breaker, translator), or the "NATO Phonetic Alphabet" functions (calculate, convert, solve, decrypt / encrypt, decipher / cipher, decode / encode, translate) written in any informatic language (Python, Java, PHP, C#, Javascript, Matlab, etc.) and all data download, script, or API access for "NATO Phonetic Alphabet" are not public, same for offline use on PC, mobile, tablet, iPhone or Android app!
Reminder : dCode is free to use.
The copy-paste of the page "NATO Phonetic Alphabet" or any of its results, is allowed (even for commercial purposes) as long as you credit dCode!
Exporting results as a .csv or .txt file is free by clicking on the export icon
Cite as source (bibliography):
NATO Phonetic Alphabet on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2024-10-04,