The Bambini-Code was a
brevity code
Brevity codes are used in amateur radio, maritime, aviation and military communications. The codes are designed to convey complex information with a few words or codes. Some terms are classified to the public.
List of brevity codes
* ACP-131 A ...
used for tactical
radio voice communications by the
Swiss Air Force
The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army an ...
(SAF).
It was developed by the SAF during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and was used until 1998.
It is sometimes referred to as the "fifth national language" of Switzerland.
[Schindi's Sky, V5_kommunikation_frame.htm]
(self-published)
History
The code was developed from the need to communicate via poor-quality radio links in the noisy environment of the aircraft then in service with the SAF. It was used by the SAF from around the start of the Second World War until 1998.
As the SAF started to have regular communications with foreign air forces in
Switzerland and abroad, the Bambini-Code was no longer suitable. For example, with the retirement of the
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...
from SAF service in 1994, SAF pilots in the United States learning to fly its replacement the
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now par ...
found they could not be understood when using the Bambini-code.
So in 1998 the SAF changed to the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
standard
multiservice tactical brevity code. This was also at the time the SAF switched from using the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Intern ...
of measurement to the
Imperial units
The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed th ...
of feet and miles per hour, although it kept the use of litres rather than gallons as the measurement unit for fuel. The NATO Brevity Code is now the standard code for the SAF at any time.
Code words
The Bambini-code comprised a vocabulary of about 500 words.
The code words were chosen so that they were phonetically as clear and distinct as possible. Vowel-rich words meet this requirement best and
Italian words tend to have this characteristic, so many of the codewords sound Italian. For example, ''"Bambini"'' is the Italian for ''"Children"''.
Examples of code words
Some of the words are given below with their meanings in English.
*Addio = Dispersal, disengagement
*ALA = Flaps
*Alarme = Alarm
*Altezza = Altitude above sea level in hectometers
*Alto = Top, high
*Angeli = Friendly aircraft (Angeli is Swiss German for little angel)
*Atlanta = West
*Attaco ident numero = Tactical attack to read the aircraft Serial No.
*Attaco ident Timonella = Tactical attack to force an aircraft to land
*Attaco Siwa = Attack with Sidewinder missile
*Attendez = Wait
*Attendez campo = Wait on the airfield
*Avanti = Start attack, attack curve
*Aviso = Message, information
*Bambini = All our aircraft
*Basso = Below
*Bello = Friendly aircraft are safe
*Bibi = Fighter
*Bingo = Fuel remaining on reserve
*Camille = Fuel at 1000 lbs / l
*Campari = Fuel (
Campari is an Italian
apéritif).
*Campo = Airfield, base
*Capito = Understood
*Carello = Landing gear (''caRrello'' is Italian both for shopping trolley and
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Marti ...
)
*Casino = Home base
*Clearance = Release, authorization
*Colonna = Column
*Color = Landing lights
*Condor = Unidentified aircraft
*Conditione = Weather conditions
*Corso = Compascurs
*Demitour = Reverse curve
*Descenze = Descent
*Diaboli = Enemy aircraft
*Domanda = Request
*Finale = Final approach
*Finito = End of the radio traffic, closed end
*Formazione grande = Wide formation
*Formazione picco = Close formation
*Gardez = Watch it, watch
*Inferno = Rain
*In posizione = In position
*In siesta = In peace
*Lago = Lake, water
*Libero = Not used, free
*Lili = Left
*Lilitour = Turn 90° left
*Mekka = East
*Meteo = Weather
*Montare Pece = Maximum afterburner climb
*Montare sec = Climb at full throttle
*Nase = straight ahead (Nase is German for nose)
*Nobis = No
*Nobis capitonnage = Not understood
*Norwega = North
*Partenza = Start, departure
*Pece =
Afterburner
An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
*Piano = Slow, slower
*Piccolo = Little, small
*Positione = Location
* = Probably
*Positione = Partenza location
*Pressione = Speed
*Presto = Fast, faster
*Pronto = Ready
*Rendezvous = Meeting time
*Repetez = Repeat the message
*Rera = Right
*Reratour = Turn 90° right
*Reravolte = right turn
*Riposo = Land
*Riposo direkt = Direct approach
*Risponde = Reply
*Ritorno = Return
*Sec = Full throttle
*Silencium = Radio silence
*Siwa =
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...
missile
*Sopra = Over
*Stabilo = Back
*Stuka =
Dive brakes ("Stuka" is an abbreviation of ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', the German term for a
dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that Dive (aviation), dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the Aerial bomb, bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to ...
)
*Subito = Immediately
*Sudan = South
*Timo Ella = Call for landing
*Tiralto = Pull command
*Touchez Repartenza =
Touch-and-go landing
In aviation, a touch-and-go landing (TGL) or circuit is a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a fixed-wing aircraft. It involves landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a full stop. Usually the pilot then circles the a ...
*Vista = View, sight
References
Citations
Bibliography
*{{citation , url=http://www.wings-aviation.ch/16-SAF/100-Flugwaffe/Bambini-e.htm , title=Der Bambini-Code , trans-title=The Bambini-code , publisher=Wings-Aviation.ch , language=de , date=1 January 2007 , access-date=2013-06-23 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223060644/http://www.wings-aviation.ch/16-SAF/100-Flugwaffe/Bambini-e.htm , archive-date=2014-02-23 , url-status=dead
External links
*Bambini-code in use between a
Dassault Mirage III
The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...
and a TFC on the Florida Radar System at 5:35 on YouTub
Swiss Air Force
Military history of Switzerland
Brevity codes