Zulu time now

Zulu time is UTC, written as a four-digit 24-hour time followed by Z, like 1430Z. Pilots, air traffic control, the military, ships and radio operators use it so everyone works from the same clock.

Why “Zulu”?

In the military time zone system each zone has a letter, and the zone at the Greenwich meridian is Z. In the NATO phonetic alphabet Z is “Zulu,” so UTC became Zulu time.

Military time zone letters

Letter	Name	Offset
Z	Zulu	UTC±0
A	Alpha	UTC+1
B	Bravo	UTC+2
C	Charlie	UTC+3
D	Delta	UTC+4
E	Echo	UTC+5
F	Foxtrot	UTC+6
G	Golf	UTC+7
H	Hotel	UTC+8
I	India	UTC+9
K	Kilo	UTC+10
L	Lima	UTC+11
M	Mike	UTC+12
N	November	UTC−1
O	Oscar	UTC−2
P	Papa	UTC−3
Q	Quebec	UTC−4
R	Romeo	UTC−5
S	Sierra	UTC−6
T	Tango	UTC−7
U	Uniform	UTC−8
V	Victor	UTC−9
W	Whiskey	UTC−10
X	X-ray	UTC−11
Y	Yankee	UTC−12

The letter J (Juliett) means the observer's local time. US Eastern Standard Time is R (Romeo) and Eastern Daylight Time is Q (Quebec); Pacific Standard Time is U (Uniform).