Reference • Aviation • Maritime • Ham radio
NATO phonetic alphabet
The official ICAO/NATO spelling alphabet — Alpha through Zulu — with pronunciation guide and the Morse code for each letter on one page.
Letters (A–Z)
| Letter | NATO word | Pronunciation | Morse |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alpha | AL fah | .- |
| B | Bravo | BRAH voh | -... |
| C | Charlie | CHAR lee | -.-. |
| D | Delta | DELL tah | -.. |
| E | Echo | ECK oh | . |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS trot | ..-. |
| G | Golf | GOLF | --. |
| H | Hotel | hoh TELL | .... |
| I | India | IN dee ah | .. |
| J | Juliett | JEW lee ETT | .--- |
| K | Kilo | KEY loh | -.- |
| L | Lima | LEE mah | .-.. |
| M | Mike | MIKE | -- |
| N | November | no VEM ber | -. |
| O | Oscar | OSS car | --- |
| P | Papa | pah PAH | .--. |
| Q | Quebec | keh BECK | --.- |
| R | Romeo | ROW me oh | .-. |
| S | Sierra | see AIR ah | ... |
| T | Tango | TANG go | - |
| U | Uniform | YOU nee form | ..- |
| V | Victor | VIK tah | ...- |
| W | Whiskey | WISS key | .-- |
| X | X-ray | ECKS ray | -..- |
| Y | Yankee | YANG key | -.-- |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO loo | --.. |
Numbers (0–9)
| Digit | Spoken | Pronunciation | Morse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Zero | ZEE roh | ----- |
| 1 | One | WUN | .---- |
| 2 | Two | TOO | ..--- |
| 3 | Three | TREE | ...-- |
| 4 | Four | FOW er | ....- |
| 5 | Five | FIFE | ..... |
| 6 | Six | SIX | -.... |
| 7 | Seven | SEV en | --... |
| 8 | Eight | AIT | ---.. |
| 9 | Niner | NIN er | ----. |
How it’s used
- Aviation: ICAO standard since 1956. Pilots spell call signs and clearances over noisy radio.
- Military / NATO: Identical alphabet used by NATO forces (hence the common name).
- Ham radio: Operators use it to spell call signs on SSB voice modes.
- Customer service: Adopted ad-hoc in call centers to spell names and codes.
Useful tips
- Three is pronounced “TREE” and nine is “NIN-er” to distinguish from German nein.
- Stress the capitalized syllable in the pronunciation column.
- For long alphanumeric strings, group every 3–4 characters with a beat.
Want to send the same letters in Morse? The translator has a NATO phonetic toggle that shows the spelling alongside Morse output — great for learning both at once.