NATO Phonetic Converter

The words. A is Alfa, not Alpha. J is Juliett, not Juliet. The rest of the alphabet is the familiar radio set. HI uses Hotel and India. Ab uses Alfa and Bravo. A digit is not spoken. It is listed under Skipped. A space becomes a slash between the words so “H I” is not the same string as “HI”. Forty characters is the cap.

HI is Hotel India. Ab is Alfa Bravo, because the letters are upper-cased before the lookup. A digit is skipped and named. A space becomes a slash so you can see where a word ended. The alphabet is the current spelling Alfa and Juliett, not the older Alpha and Juliet. If you learned the older spellings, the difference is only those two words. Digits are skipped rather than spoken as “niner” because this page is the letter alphabet only. Spell a digit in words yourself if a radio call needs it. Forty characters is the cap. A long sentence of skipped marks will show a long skipped list. Delete the marks if you only wanted the letters.

Hotel India is the sample because both letters are common and the words are hard to confuse with each other. Alfa Bravo shows the lower-case path and the Alfa spelling in one go. If you type a 7, expect it under Skipped and do not expect the word Seven. Radio procedure for digits is a different list and this page does not mix the lists. A slash is a space you typed. Read the slashes when you spell a multi-word code or you will run the words together. Forty characters includes the spaces. A code of four letters is the usual size. A sentence is too long and will be refused or will be mostly skipped marks. Delete the marks first.

The current alphabet spells A as Alfa and J as Juliett. Older lists used Alpha and Juliet. This page uses the current spellings, so Ab becomes Alfa Bravo and a word with J uses Juliett. HI becomes Hotel India. Letters are read after they are upper-cased, so mixed case does not change the words. A space becomes a slash so a gap between words stays visible. A digit is not given a word. It is listed under Skipped, because this page is the letter alphabet and not the digit alphabet. Radio practice for digits uses a separate list, including a spoken form for nine, and that list is not mixed in here. Punctuation is skipped the same way. The cap is forty characters. A short code is the intended input. A long sentence will be mostly skipped marks and is better deleted down to the letters you meant to spell. Read the words aloud from the line. If a word is not the one you expected, check Alfa and Juliett first, then check that you did not type a digit.

Spell HI and Ab from memory before you try a longer code. Hotel India and Alfa Bravo are the two lines this page is built to show. If either word looks wrong, you are on a different alphabet. Digits stay in the skipped list, and a space stays a slash.

HI

Inputs: Letters: HI

Leave the letters as HI and press Spell. The words are Hotel India.

Result: NATO: Hotel India Skipped: none Digits and punctuation are skipped. Spaces become slashes so word gaps stay visible.

Ab

Inputs: Letters: Ab

Change the letters to Ab and press Spell. The words are Alfa Bravo.

Result: NATO: Alfa Bravo Skipped: none Digits and punctuation are skipped. Spaces become slashes so word gaps stay visible.

Why Alfa and not Alpha?

Alfa is the current spelling. Alpha is the older one. This page uses Alfa and Juliett.

What happens to a digit?

It is skipped and listed. This page spells letters only.

What does a slash mean?

A space in the input. It keeps a gap between words visible.

Does case matter?

No. Letters are upper-cased before the lookup.

Can I spell a long sentence?

Up to 40 characters. Marks you do not want should be deleted first.

Are the letters uploaded?

No. The words are looked up in the browser.