Bambini-Code
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The Bambini-Code was a brevity code used for tactical radio voice communications by the Swiss Air Force (SAF).[1] It was developed by the SAF during World War II and was used until 1998.[2] It is sometimes referred to as the "fifth national language" of Switzerland.[2][3]
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 from SAF service in 1994, SAF pilots in the United States learning to fly its replacement the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet found they could not be understood when using the Bambini-code.[2] So in 1998 the SAF changed to the NATO standard multiservice tactical brevity code. This was also at the time the SAF switched from using the metric system of measurement to the Imperial units 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.