Military Alphabet (NATO Phonetic Alphabet)
Spell any name, code or message in the military alphabet, the NATO phonetic alphabet pilots and soldiers use, or turn code words back into text.
Code words
NATO phonetic alphabet chart
The full NATO phonetic alphabet list: every letter and number with its ICAO pronunciation and Morse code. Where your device has an English voice, press the speaker to hear a word.
| Letter | Code word | Say it | Morse | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AlfaAL-fah | AL-fah | dot dash | |
| B | BravoBRAH-voh | BRAH-voh | dash dot dot dot | |
| C | CharlieCHAR-leeor SHAR-lee | CHAR-leeor SHAR-lee | dash dot dash dot | |
| D | DeltaDELL-tah | DELL-tah | dash dot dot | |
| E | EchoECK-oh | ECK-oh | dot | |
| F | FoxtrotFOKS-trot | FOKS-trot | dot dot dash dot | |
| G | GolfGOLF | GOLF | dash dash dot | |
| H | Hotelho-TELL | ho-TELL | dot dot dot dot | |
| I | IndiaIN-dee-ah | IN-dee-ah | dot dot | |
| J | JuliettJEW-lee-ETT | JEW-lee-ETT | dot dash dash dash | |
| K | KiloKEY-loh | KEY-loh | dash dot dash | |
| L | LimaLEE-mah | LEE-mah | dot dash dot dot | |
| M | MikeMIKE | MIKE | dash dash | |
| N | Novemberno-VEM-ber | no-VEM-ber | dash dot | |
| O | OscarOSS-cah | OSS-cah | dash dash dash | |
| P | Papapah-PAH | pah-PAH | dot dash dash dot | |
| Q | Quebeckeh-BECK | keh-BECK | dash dash dot dash | |
| R | RomeoROW-me-oh | ROW-me-oh | dot dash dot | |
| S | Sierrasee-AIR-rah | see-AIR-rah | dot dot dot | |
| T | TangoTANG-go | TANG-go | dash | |
| U | UniformYOU-nee-formor OO-nee-form | YOU-nee-formor OO-nee-form | dot dot dash | |
| V | VictorVIK-tah | VIK-tah | dot dot dot dash | |
| W | WhiskeyWISS-key | WISS-key | dot dash dash | |
| X | X-rayECKS-ray | ECKS-ray | dash dot dot dash | |
| Y | YankeeYANG-key | YANG-key | dash dot dash dash | |
| Z | ZuluZOO-loo | ZOO-loo | dash dash dot dot |
| Number | Word | Say it | Morse | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Zerosay ZE-RO | ZE-RO | dash dash dash dash dash | |
| 1 | Onesay WUN | WUN | dot dash dash dash dash | |
| 2 | Twosay TOO | TOO | dot dot dash dash dash | |
| 3 | Threeradio: Treesay TREE | TREE | dot dot dot dash dash | |
| 4 | Fourradio: Fowersay FOW-er | FOW-er | dot dot dot dot dash | |
| 5 | Fiveradio: Fifesay FIFE | FIFE | dot dot dot dot dot | |
| 6 | Sixsay SIX | SIX | dash dot dot dot dot | |
| 7 | Sevensay SEV-en | SEV-en | dash dash dot dot dot | |
| 8 | Eightsay AIT | AIT | dash dash dash dot dot | |
| 9 | Nineradio: Ninersay NIN-er | NIN-er | dash dash dash dash dot |
A decimal point is Decimal on the radio (say DAY-SEE-MAL).
Print or download the chart
One page with every letter and number, how to say it and its Morse code.
Source: ICAO Annex 10, Volume II, Figure 5-1.
Phonetic alphabet quiz
Ten questions on the NATO alphabet, in the spelling you chose in Options: the word for a letter, the letter for a word, or the letter you hear. Your best score stays on this device.
How to use
This NATO and military alphabet translator works as you type, in both directions.
Type or paste a name, code or message, or pick an example from the Try row under the box. Enter three or more code words and the tool switches to Code words → text by itself, with an Undo.
Open Options to choose ICAO or common spelling, plain or radio numbers, how punctuation is said, and whether to say “Capital”.
Read the code words, and check each character under Letter by letter. Show Morse adds its Morse code.
Press Read aloud, Copy or Share. More actions holds Copy as list and Print this spelling.
Look up a letter in the military alphabet chart, download it as a PDF, or learn the words in the quiz, a few short rounds a day.
What it does
The military alphabet, the military phonetic alphabet, the army phonetic alphabet and the NATO phonetic alphabet are names for the same 26 words, Alfa to Zulu. It also goes by the aviation or airline phonetic alphabet, since civil aviation radio uses the same list.
Both directions.
Spell letters, digits and punctuation, or read code words back. The decoder accepts Alfa or Alpha, Juliett or Juliet, X-ray or Xray, Niner or Nine, and the police words, and keeps an unknown word in [brackets].
Options for each job.
ICAO or common spelling, plain or radio numbers (Tree, Fower, Fife, Niner), punctuation named, said the radio way (Decimal, Stop) or left out, and “Capital” before capitals for passwords. It works as a phonetic alphabet generator for booking codes, email addresses and serial numbers, not just names.
Letter by letter.
Each character above its code word, with Morse on request. Accented letters are spelled as their base letter (é as E); an emoji or other script is flagged, never dropped.
Hear it.
Read aloud and the chart’s speaker buttons use your device’s own English voice, and appear only when it has one.
Keep it.
Copy the line or a list (H – Hotel), share a link to the same text and options, or print a card with your text, its code words and the date.
A printable chart and a quiz.
The chart comes as a one-page PDF in A4 or US Letter. The quiz asks in the spelling you chose in Options, has three modes (By ear needs a device voice) and keeps your best score on this device.
How it works
Officially, the NATO phonetic alphabet is the radiotelephony spelling alphabet of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The tool takes its words, spellings and stressed syllables from ICAO Annex 10, Volume II, §5.2.1.3 and Figure 5-1. ICAO underlines the stressed syllables; the chart writes them in capitals instead: ho-TELL, pah-PAH, keh-BECK, no-VEM-ber. Charlie may also be said SHAR-lee, and Uniform OO-nee-form.
Numbers follow §5.2.1.4.3.1, which sets the sound of every digit (see the FAQ below). ICAO says a decimal point as DECIMAL (§5.2.1.4.1.7), so with radio punctuation a point between two digits becomes Decimal. A full stop that ends a word becomes Stop. The FAA says Point in US radio frequencies (AIM §4-2-8); the decoder reads both.
NATO made the list effective for NATO use on 1 March 1956. In aviation, the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual (§4-2-7) tells pilots to use it when they identify their aircraft on first contact with air traffic control, and to spell out letters and difficult words when reception is poor.
The Morse column is the International Morse code of ITU-R M.1677-1, the same table as the Morse code alphabet chart; the FAA prints the two side by side in its table 4-2-7.
Examples
Each row is the tool’s output with the options shown; check any word against the chart.
| You type | Options | Code words |
|---|---|---|
| I love you | Defaults | India / Lima Oscar Victor Echo / Yankee Oscar Uniform |
| KX7Q2 (a booking code) | Defaults | Kilo X-ray Seven Quebec Two |
| jo.doe@mail.com | Defaults | Juliett Oscar Dot Delta Oscar Echo At Mike Alfa India Lima Dot Charlie Oscar Mike |
| FL190 (flight level 190) | Numbers: Radio | Foxtrot Lima One Niner Zero |
| 118.3 (a frequency) | Numbers and Punctuation: Radio | One One Eight Decimal Tree |
The slash marks a gap between words. Decoding works backwards: Tango Yankee gives TY, and alpha, BRAVO xray juliet niner tree / fower gives ABXJ93 4, mixed spellings and all.
What is C in the NATO phonetic alphabet? Charlie. The letters looked up most are G Golf, I India, J Juliett, M Mike, N November, O Oscar, P Papa, Q Quebec, S Sierra, U Uniform, W Whiskey and Y Yankee. Each has its own row in the chart, so #q opens Quebec.
Trust and limits
Everything runs in your browser and nothing you type is uploaded. Read aloud uses only a voice that runs on your device, and a share link keeps your text after the # in the address, which browsers never send to our server. Your options and best scores stay in this browser; an example or a share link sets options for that visit only and never changes the saved ones.
The box takes up to 5,000 characters; Letter by letter shows the first 400, and the line above has them all. Other scripts and emoji are flagged, not spelled, and the tool does not write IPA or the World War II Able Baker alphabet. Words, spellings and pronunciation follow ICAO Annex 10; the Morse follows ITU-R M.1677-1. Maintained by Translate Morse Code; last updated October 2026.
Sources
- ICAO, Annex 10, Volume II, 7th edition (2016), §5.2.1.3 and Figure 5-1, §5.2.1.4.1.7, §5.2.1.4.3.1 (the copy published by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation)
- NATO, The NATO Phonetic Alphabet
- FAA, Aeronautical Information Manual, §4-2-7, Phonetic Alphabet (TBL 4-2-7, Phonetic Alphabet/Morse Code), and §4-2-8, Figures
- ITU-R Recommendation M.1677-1 (10/2009), International Morse code
- APCO, “New Word List for CW and Phone”, The APCO Bulletin, August 1941, p. 10
- APCO Project 14 report (1974), Exhibit No. 8
- Wikipedia, NATO phonetic alphabet (secondary: why Alfa and Juliett; the four digits that sound different; spelling alphabet and IPA)
- Wikipedia, APCO radiotelephony spelling alphabet (secondary: most departments kept the 1941 words)
Frequently asked questions
About the NATO phonetic alphabet
Yes. The military alphabet, the NATO phonetic alphabet and the ICAO radiotelephony spelling alphabet are one list of 26 words, Alfa to Zulu. ICAO sets it for aviation radio in Annex 10, and NATO adopted it on 1 March 1956. A spelling made here works the same on a military radio, in a cockpit or over the phone.
ICAO spells them that way so speakers of other languages say them right. Someone who does not know that ph sounds like f could misread Alpha, and a French speaker may treat a single final t as silent, so Juliet gets two. Pick Common spelling in Options if you want Alpha and Juliet; the decoder reads both forms either way.
Because the ICAO radio rules say so. Annex 10 sets the sound of every digit: WUN, TOO, TREE, FOW-er, FIFE, SIX, SEV-en, AIT, NIN-er and ZE-RO. Four of them sound different from everyday English, so the Radio numbers option writes Tree, Fower, Fife and Niner, and the chart shows how to say all ten. The decoder reads plain and radio forms alike.
Both are in use. ICAO and NATO write X-ray with a hyphen, while the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual writes Xray. The tool spells it X-ray by default and Xray with Common spelling. When decoding, X-ray, Xray and X ray all read as X, so a list copied from either source decodes cleanly.
Not in the linguist’s sense. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols for writing down speech sounds. The NATO list is a spelling alphabet: clear words that stand for letters on a radio or phone line. Both get called a phonetic alphabet. This tool does the spelling kind and does not write IPA.
Many US police departments still use an older list, Adam, Boy, Charles, that the police radio association APCO printed in 1941, fifteen years before NATO adopted its words. APCO moved to the ICAO words in 1974, but most departments kept the older ones. The police phonetic alphabet tool spells and decodes them, with the NATO word beside each.