The Bambini-Code was a

brevity code Brevity is concision or brevitas, the quality of being brief or concise, or: * Brevity (comic strip), ''Brevity'' (comic strip), a comic strip created by Guy Endore-Kaiser and Rodd Perry * Brevity code, a vocal word replacement system * Operation ...

used for tactical radio voice communications by the

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

(SAF). It was developed by the SAF during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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 supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

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 ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

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 standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

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 thr ...

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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 (Ängeli 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 Campari () is an Italian alcoholic liqueur, considered an aperitif, apéritif of the ''bitter'' variety (and not an amaro) by Italians while considered an apéritif of the Amaro (liqueur), amaro variety by Americans, obtained from the infusion of ...

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 taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

) *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 is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

missile *Sopra = Over *Stabilo = Back *Stuka =

Dive brake Dive brakes or dive flaps are deployed to slow down an aircraft when in a dive. They often consist of a metal flap that is lowered against the air flow, thus creating drag and reducing dive speed.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, ...

s ("Stuka" is an abbreviation of ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', the German term for a

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

) *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 and bump is a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a fixed-wing aircraft. It involves landing on a runway and takeoff, taking off again without coming to a full stop. Usually the pilot ...

*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 and a TFC on the Florida Radar System at 5:35 on YouTub

Swiss Air Force Military history of Switzerland Brevity codes