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NATO Phonetic Alphabet Translator
Type a name, booking reference, serial number or call sign and get it spelled out with the NATO (ICAO) spelling alphabet, from Alfa to Zulu. Listen to it read aloud, or paste code words to turn them back into text.
Speech is not available in this browser. You can still copy the result.
The NATO alphabet click a letter to hear it
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How to use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Translator
- Type or paste text such as a name, email address or booking code into the box.
- Read the result: every letter and digit appears as its code word, with word breaks shown as a slash.
- Choose options: radio-style numbers, official or common spellings, and whether to show pronunciation.
- Press Play to hear it spoken. Each code word lights up as it is read.
- Going the other way? Switch to Code words to text and paste something like Hotel Echo Lima Lima Oscar.
Frequently asked questions
What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?
It is the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet adopted by ICAO and NATO in the 1950s: 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 and Zulu. Each word starts with the letter it stands for and was chosen to be understood clearly by speakers of many languages over noisy radio.
Why is it Alfa and Juliett instead of Alpha and Juliet?
The official ICAO spellings are Alfa and Juliett so that speakers of languages such as French and Spanish pronounce them correctly: ph might not be read as f, and a single final t can be silent in French. Both spellings are understood, and the tool lets you choose either.
How are numbers said in the phonetic alphabet?
Pilots and radio operators use ICAO pronunciations: zero, wun, too, tree, fower, fife, six, seven, ait and niner. Tree, fower, fife and niner avoid confusion between three and free, five and fire, and nine and the German nein. Choose Radio style digits to use them.
Is it called the military alphabet or police alphabet?
People often call it the military alphabet, as it is used by NATO forces. Many police forces in the US still use their own older APCO alphabet (Adam, Boy, Charles...), but the NATO alphabet is the international standard in aviation, shipping, the military and customer service.
How does the reverse translator work?
Paste code words separated by spaces. Each word is turned back into its letter or digit, ignoring upper and lower case. Common variants like Alpha, Juliet, Xray, Whisky, Niner, Tree and Fife are recognized, and a slash or the word space marks a gap between words.
Why doesn't Play make a sound?
Speech uses your browser's built-in voices (the Web Speech API). Most browsers have them, but some Linux browsers and privacy-focused setups do not. Check that your device volume is on, or try another browser.
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