Originally Posted by
SirToppamHat
Lima Nine Tango Four Seven (flying with 46 or 48 as the other half of the pair I presume) sounds precisely like a UK operational military callsign. These are issued according to centralized procedures and are based on the unit rather than the squadron - in my experience one number and 2 letters with the digit first or second. So Nine Lima Tango or Lima Nine Tango would be OK, but not Lima Tango Nine. In effect, the trigraph is issued at random ... the station/squadron/unit has no say ... as far as I know, they do not repeat regularly (though I guess statistics will suggest that there are only 26 x 26 x 10 x 2 possible combinations), .
OK, thanks folks! But:
How does this relate to the sort of stuff you hear along the lines of [word] [number] [number]? The famous example is "bravo two zero" and seems to be used by all branches, but I hear it endlessly in recorded radio traffic. One example contains a conversation during (I think) a Red Flag exercise during which an American controller of some kind is "alleycat," and talks to a British voice describing himself as "hydra one one." Other players include what I assume is a tanker "focus," though we occasionally hear from "focus three eight," and what sounds like a fast jet called "knight four one."
Is this some sort of American procedure because it's Red Flag?
Transcript of one exchange, most of which I do vaguely follow, is in the hidden block below for reference.
KNIGHT41: Knight four one checking in as fragged minus one
ALLEYCAT: Knight four one, alleycat, negative radar contact, procedural control only, maintain own separation, altimeter two niner niner niner, pull up clear of clouds, few clouds in east, flight level two six zero to three one zero, west side is clear, words alpha, chalice nogo, checkmate nogo, words bravo, single frequency war on beige three zero.
KNIGHT41: [unclear] copied, words bravo, single freq war beige three zero, Knight four one.
ALLEYCAT: Knight four one, Alleycat, push tactical.
KNIGHT41: Push tactical, Knight four one. [break] Knight, push tactical.