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.
Assim como o alfabeto da OTAN rege os nomes, mas é fácil de entender (possivelmente sob múltiplos sotaques) e deve ser não ambíguo.
As seguintes regras também são aplicadas
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.