Design System

Voice & microcopy

Four rules for writing in the FDT register.
  1. Terminology is precise. Use real doctrinal terms - ROE, DDIL, COA, PID, BDA, kill chain, warfighting function. Don’t translate them for a lay audience; let context carry the meaning.
  2. Declarative over promotional. “340+ systems delivered to 3 operational commands” beats “Trusted by leading defense customers.” Numbers, specifics, dates.
  3. Restrained tone. No exclamation points. No “crafted with care.” No “reimagining defense.” The copy reads like a capability brief.
  4. Training constructs are labeled. Scenarios, adversary orders of battle, and synthetic operational data embedded in GRIDWATCH, GHOST GRID, QRF, and SECTOR training surfaces carry the italic training-construct disclaimer. This is not optional - operators and reviewers must be able to distinguish rehearsal content from live operational data at a glance.

Labels and button copy use small caps or title case - never sentence case - and are short: DEPLOY, ACQUIRE TARGET, BRIEF MISSION, VIEW SECTOR.