The phonetic alphabet assigns code words to the letters of the English alphabet (Alfa for A, Bravo for B, etc.) so that critical combinations of letters (and numbers) can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of their native language, especially when the safety of navigation or persons is essential.

A phonetic alphabet is an alphabet in which each letter is represented by a codeword that starts with that letter. For example, in a phonetic alphabet, the letter ‘B’ could be represented by the word ‘Bravo’, while the letter ‘P’ could be represented by the word ‘Papa’.

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a set of code words for the letters of the Latin alphabet. They are used to spell words when people speak over the radio or telephone, when people from different countries are speaking with different accents, or in other situations where people may not clearly hear the normal names of the letters.