FEATURES OF TRANSLATION OF OPERATIONAL AND TACTICAL TERMS IN MILITARY DOCUMENTS – COMPONENTS OF THE MILITARY DECISIONMAKING PROCESS MDMP (FRENCH, ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze key documents that are integral parts of the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP), specifically the Operation Order (OPORD), the Fragmentary Order (FRAGO) and their components, in the context of identifying optimal translation strategies and methods for accurately rendering military terminological units from foreign languages (English and French) into Ukrainian. Standardization and interoperability of the armed forces of NATO member states form the foundation of the Alliance’s security and are defined as the process of developing and implementing procedures, designs, and terminology. Operational-tactical terms belong to one of the most critical fields military tactics and require meticulous work on translation accuracy. This is crucial because translated materials may serve as the basis for conducting military operations and making important decisions grounded in fundamental combat documents. The research is based on the methodology of Franco-Canadian linguists J.-P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet, who identified seven key processes reflected at lexical, grammatical-syntactic and informational levels. These include сalquing (loan translation), equivalence search (literal or word-for-word translation), modulation, translation by analogues (grammatical substitution, explication) and adapting the source text to the target text (specification, generalization). The operational-tactical terms analyzed constitute the core of one of the most critical areas – military tactics. Therefore, their translation requires a thorough approach to precision, accuracy and alignment with the original terms, as the translated material may serve as a basis for conducting military operations and making critical decisions based on basic combat documents as components of the MDMP.