zulu time

Beginner 🎖️ Military / Defense

Definition

Military designation for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), formerly Greenwich Mean Time, allowing global forces to coordinate without time zone confusion. When it's 1400 Zulu, it's 1400 Zulu everywhere.

Example Usage

The synchronized strike across three continents was scheduled for 0600 Zulu time.

Origin

From the NATO phonetic alphabet where 'Z' is 'Zulu,' representing the Z timezone designation (UTC+0)

Fun Fact

Using Zulu time prevents catastrophic failures like different units attacking at different times because someone forgot about daylight saving time—coordination trumps convenience.

Source: Military timekeeping and coordination standards

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