ICAO phonetic alphabet, also known as ITU phonetic alphabet, NATO phonetic alphabet or international radiotelephone phonetic alphabet is the most widely used phonetic alphabet. Often so-called "phonetic alphabets" are actually spelling alphabets and have no connection with phonetic transcription systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Instead, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) alphabet assigns code words acrophonically to the letters of the English alphabet ( Alpha for A, Bravo for B, etc.), so that critical combinations of letters and numbers can be pronounced and understood by those receiving and transmitting voice messages by radio or telephone, regardless of their native language. This is especially important in traffic control, where people may be in danger due to a distorted understanding of the information being conveyed.

Alphabet and pronunciation

The pronunciation of alphabetic letter codes and numbers depends on the speaker's language habits. To address differences in pronunciation, ICAO has developed posters illustrating the desired pronunciation. However, there are differences in pronunciation between the ICAO and other organizations' versions, and even the ICAO has published conflicting standards. Additionally, although all alphabet letter codes are English words, they have deviations from general English pronunciation rules. Only 11 codes out of 26: bravo, echo, hotel, Juliet(t), kilo, Mike, papa, Quebec, Romeo, whiskey And Zulu are given according to English pronunciation rules (although often not the same as English pronunciation), suggesting that the transcription does not have to be exact.

Letters

№	Letter	A codeword	Code word translation(with links alt translation)	Pronunciation
				Transcription(with links to sound)			Letter (radio) dictation option(another way of pronouncing the code word)
				MFA	In Russian	English	ICAO	US Army	ITU
1)	A	Alfa(ICAO, ITU, IMO, FAA) Alpha(ANSI, FAA)	alpha (1st letter of the Greek alphabet), beginning, main thing among a number of objects	ˈælfɑ	alpha	[ˈælfə]	AL FAH	AL fah	AL FAH
2)	B	Bravo	"Bravo"; hitman	ˈbrɑːˈvo	Bravo	[ˈbrɑːvəʊ]	BRAH VOH	BRAH voh	BRAH VOH
3)	C	Charlie	name Charlie	ˈtʃɑːli or ˈʃɑːli	Charlie (Charlie)		CHAR LEE	CHAR lee	CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE
4)	D	Delta	delta (4th letter of the Greek alphabet)	ˈdeltɑ	delta	[ˈdelta]	DELL TAH	DEL tah	DELL TAH
5)	E	Echo	echo	ˈeko	eco		ECK OH	EKK oh	ECK OH
6)	F	Foxtrot	foxtrot	ˈfɔkstrɔt	foxtrot		FOKS TROT	FOKS trot	FOKS TROT
7)	G	Golf	golf	ɡʌlf [ sic]	golf		GOLF	Golf	GOLF
8)	H	Hotel	hotel	hoːˈtel	wanted		HOH TELL	HO tell	HOH TELL
9)	I	India	India	ˈindiˑɑ	India		IN DEE AH	IN dee ah	IN DEE AH
10)	J	Juliet(ICAO, ITU, IMO, FAA) Juliet(ANSI, FAA)	name Juliet	ˈdʒuːliˑˈet	Juliet		JEW LEE ETT	JEW Lee et	JEW LEE ETT
11)	K	Kilo	prefix "kilo"	ˈkiːlo	kilo		KEY LOH	KEY loh	KEY LOH
12)	L	Lima	Lima	ˈliːmɑ	Lima		LEE MAH	LEE mah	LEE MAH
13)	M	Mike	name Mike	mɑik	Mike		MIKE	Mike	MIKE
14)	N	November	november	noˈvembə	newembe		NO VEM BER	NOH vember	NO VEM BER
15)	O	Oscar	name Oscar	ˈɔskɑ	osk		O.S.S. CAH	OSS car	O.S.S. CAH
16)	P	Papa	dad	pəˈpɑ	dad		PAH PAH	PAH pah	PAH PAH
17)	Q	Quebec	Quebec	keˈbek	kebak		KEH BECK	keh BECK	KEH BECK
18)	R	Romeo	Romeo	ˈroːmiˑo	roumio	eu]	ROW ME OH	ROW me oh	ROW ME OH
19)	S	Sierra	sierra, mackerel	siˈerɑ	siera		SEE AIR A.H.	see AIR ah	SEE AIR RAH
20)	T	Tango	tango	ˈtænɡo [ sic]	tangou		TANG GO	TANG go	TANG GO
21)	U	Uniform	a uniform	ˈjuːnifɔːm or ˈuːnifɔrm	uniform (uniform)		YOU NEE FORM	YOU nee form	YOU NEE FORM or O.O. NEE FORM
22)	V	Victor	name Victor	ˈviktɑ/ ˈviktɔ	Victa	[‘vɪktə] / [‘vɪktər]	VIK TAH	VIK ter	VIK TAH
23)	W	Whiskey	whiskey	ˈwhiskey	whiskey	[‘wɪskɪ]	WISS KEY	WISS key	WISS KEY
24)	X	X-ray, Xray	x-ray	ˈeksˈrei	eksray	[‘eksreɪ]	ECK SRAY [ sic]	EKS ray	ECKS RAY
25)	Y	Yankee	Yankees	ˈjænki/ ˈjanki	Yankees	[ˈjæŋkɪ]	YAN GKEY[ sic]	YANG kee	YANG KEY
26)	Z	Zulu	Zulu	ˈzuːluː	Zulu	[ˈzuːluː]	ZOO LOO	ZOO loo	ZOO LOO

Numbers

Number	A codeword	Pronunciation
0	Zero (FAA) Nadazero (ITU, IMO)	ZE-RO (ICAO), ZE RO or ZEE-RO (FAA) NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH (ITU, IMO)
1	One (FAA) Unaone (ITU, IMO)	WUN (ICAO, FAA) OO-NAH-WUN (ITU, IMO)
2	Two (FAA) Bissotwo (ITU, IMO)	TOO (ICAO, FAA) BEES-SOH-TOO (ITU, IMO)
3	Three (FAA) Terrathree (ITU, IMO)	TREE (ICAO, FAA) TAY-RAH-TREE (ITU, IMO)
4	Four (FAA) Kartefour (ITU, IMO)	FOW-ER (ICAO), FOW ER (FAA) KAR-TAY-FOWER (ITU, IMO)
5	Five (FAA) Pantafive (ITU, IMO)	FIFE (ICAO, FAA) PAN-TAH-FIVE (ITU, IMO)
6	Six (FAA) Soxisix (ITU, IMO)	SIX (ICAO, FAA) SOK-SEE-SIX (ITU, IMO)
7	Seven (FAA) Setteseven (ITU, IMO)	SEV-EN (ICAO), SEV EN (FAA) SAY-TAY-SEVEN (ITU, IMO)
8	Eight (FAA) Oktoeight (ITU, IMO)	AIT (ICAO, FAA) OK-TOH-AIT (ITU, IMO)
9	Nine (FAA) Nine or niner (ICAO) Novenine (ITU, IMO)	NIN-ER (ICAO), NIN ER (FAA) NO-VAY-NINER (ITU, IMO)
100	Hundred	HUN dred
1000	Thousand	TOU SAND
. (decimal point)	Decimal (ITU)	DAY-SEE-MAL (ITU)
. (grammatical point)	Stop (ITU)	STOP (ITU)

The Big Maneuvers began, strictly speaking, with one visit to the small town of Ocala in Florida. Wayne Dollack, the inventor of a technology called the “big game,” lives and works there. Then, in 1998, during our first Maneuvers, which gathered 128 people, Wayne’s scale and technology seemed like something unrealistic - almost 1000 players! Full radio saturation! Coded transmission of orders!
Wayne generously shared his knowledge, especially his knowledge of how to organize a non-stop flow of missions. In his performance it looked like this...
Two “command posts” were built in the field - two large objects, with defensive walls, towers, stairs, passages and... radio rooms in which batteries and stationary radio stations are located. But the largest station is not located at the headquarters of the parties, but outside the field, at the organizational control point.
Because all mission control is carried out via radio channel. A pre-developed scenario is divided into short formalized tasks, which indicate who (which platoon of which unit), where (place or landmark), when (game start time for the task), until what time (finish time of the task) and what (type of task) must commit.
And then everything is simple - the task is transmitted via radio. True, in coded form.
Along with the rules, script and introductory notes, the headquarters of the parties also received “code tables”, in which places, times, and numbers were designated with two-letter combinations - approximately 150-160 codes in total.

For example, message
Company A platoon 1 set up listening post at Third Finger Area, hold 1/2 hour
after encoding it will sound like
Delta-Bravo Alpha Delta-Charlie Alpha-Bravo Echo-Mike Charlie-Yankee Bravo-Hotel Foxtrot-Sierra Bravo-Victor Bravo-Zulu Alpha-Lima Alpha-Zulu

Message	Encoding
Company A	Delta-Bravo Alpha
Platoon	Delta-Charlie
1	Alpha-Bravo
Set up	Echo-Mike
Listening post	Charlie-Yankee
At	Bravo-Hotel
Third Finger	Foxtrot-Sierra
area	Bravo-Victor
Hold	Bravo-Zulu
1/2	Alpha-Lima
Hour	Alpha-Zulu

In the more familiar version, instead of transmitting a task over a walkie-talkie, sealed envelopes with mission cards inside are used - initially this was done out of poverty, due to the lack of walkie-talkies, but then it took root.
Despite the apparent complexity, the table of codes is quite easy to remember and any intelligent “chief of communications” or staff signalman three or four hours after the start of the game, and Dollak has them for 24 hours, decodes the day almost “by ear.” Yes, this position is becoming mandatory - at headquarters someone must continuously monitor the airwaves in anticipation of new missions. Unlike other members of the headquarters, the signalman is in a “protected room” - the only room in the field headquarters, completely enclosed by a mesh, in which he can be without a mask. Moreover, even if the enemy manages to capture the entire headquarters, they are strictly prohibited from entering the radio room - to avoid it.
Of course, all key radio stations (CP, headquarters, main groups) have their own call signs. To control who is actually in touch and whether some cunning adversary has entered the “headquarters” frequency, password requests and recalls are used, for example, Willie Peter – Six-Nine. Passwords are generated in advance and changed every 3-4 hours for greater strength. If one or the other party has doubts about the identity of the interlocutor, a password follows, which he must answer. Of course, the above scheme is the simplest; you can come up with a more intricate system for checking authenticity, but the question is whether the player in the field will be able to figure out in time what needs to be answered.
The “chief of the operations department” also works in tandem with the headquarters signalman, who receives messages, puts them on a map and determines with what forces the task can be completed - just like in a real headquarters, where the chief of staff is in charge of planning and the commander is in charge of implementation.

The International Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet, also known as the International Radiotelephone Alphabet, or simply the "radio alphabet", is recognized as the most widely used phonetic alphabet in the world and is international. Each letter is assigned a certain code word in accordance with the alphabet (A - Alfa, B - Bravo, etc.). In such a way that a sequence of letters (and numbers) can be easily pronounced and correctly understood during voice communication over radio communications, regardless of the phonetics of the content of the native language of the transmitting/receiving party. The ICAO phonetic aviation alphabet is used by many international and national organizations. The pronunciation of alphabet letter and number codes depends on the speaker's language pronunciation. To address differences in pronunciation, ICAO has developed posters illustrating the desired pronunciation. However, there are differences in pronunciation between the ICAO and other organizations' versions. Additionally, although all alphabet letter codes are English words, they have deviations from general English pronunciation rules.

Aviation English alphabet

	ICAO	Pronunciation expressed in letters of the Russian alphabet (stressed syllable highlighted)
A	Alpha	al-F
B	Bravo	sconce-in
C	Charlie	charm-li
D	Delta	del-ta
E	Echo	uh-ko
F	Foxtrot	Fox-trot
G	Golf	golf
H	Hotel	ho- tel
I	India	In-di-a
J	Juliet	Ju-li-ett
K	Kilo	ki-lo
L	Lima	whether-ma
M	Mike	Mike
N	November	But- wem-ber
O	Oscar	OS-car
P	Papa	pa- pa
Q	Quebec	Que- beck
R	Romeo	Ro-mi-o
S	Sierra	sie-ra
T	Tango	tan th
U	Uniform	Yu-no-forms
V	Victor	Vic-tor
W	Whisky	vis-ki
X	X-ray	the ex-ray