Phonetic Alphabet

Standard Phonetic Alphabets Used For Radio & Telephone

Using Phonetic Alphabets Helps Convey Information Accurately

When you are spelling out a name, location, code, registration number, postcode etc, over a noisy or faint radio or phone link, it is easy for letters and numbers to be misheard.

Using the phonetic alphabet to spell out names, locations and so on makes accurately understanding messages a lot easier, because many letters can be easily confused when heard over a crackly radio link (B, C, D, P, T and M, N and F, S, etc).

The “NATO” / ICAO / ITU Phonetic Alphabet / Army Alphabet / Police Alphabet

Numbers are pronounced as normal, except often 9 is pronounced “Niner”