They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manner in place of the original designations, which either may have been unknown to the Western world at the time or easily confused codes.
Något liknande NATO-alfabetet reglerar namnen men är lätt att förstå (möjligen med flera talande accenter) och måste inte vara tvetydigt.
Följande regler tillämpas också
Aircraft
The first letter indicates the type of aircraft, like Bear for a bomber aircraft, or Fulcrum for a fighter aircraft.
F — fighter aircraft, also later ground attack aircraft: List of NATO reporting names for fighter aircraft
B — bomber aircraft: List of NATO reporting names for bomber aircraft
C — commercial aircraft and airliners, and cargo aircraft: List of NATO reporting names for transport aircraft
H — helicopters: List of NATO reporting names for helicopters
M — Miscellaneous; trainers, reconnaissance, seaplanes, tankers, AEW etc.: List of NATO reporting names for miscellaneous aircraft
For fixed-wing aircraft, one syllable names were used for propeller-powered craft (turboprops included), while two-syllable names indicated jet engines.