日本隐形战斗机心神首飞成功

 Japan’s domestically built X-2 stealth fighter took off from Nagoya on Friday in a maiden¹ flight that highlights the accelerating arms race in East Asia.

周五，日本国产隐形战斗机X-2从名古屋起飞，完成了“处女航”。这次试飞凸显出东亚军备竞赛在不断加速。

The X-2 “Shinshin” — with the characteristically angular look of aircraft designed to evade² radar³ detection — departed early on Friday morning and landed safely at Gifu air base about 25 minutes later.

X-2“心神”于周五早晨起飞，大约25分钟后安全降落在岐阜空军基地。X-2有着独特的棱角分明的外观，这种设计是为了躲避雷达探测。

Built by Mitsubishi, which manufactured the “Zero” fighter during the second world war, the flight highlights the growing capability⁴ of a Japanese aerospace⁵ industry that for decades has relied on the US.

这架飞机由二战时制造零式战斗机(Zero)的三菱(Mitsubishi)建造，凸显了日本航空工业能力的不断提高。几十年来，日本航空工业都依赖于美国。

But with billions of dollars in development costs needed to turn the X-2 into a fighting aircraft, the flight also shows the painful choices ahead for Japan as it tries to keep up with China’s growing military might.

但要将这架X-2改造成一架作战飞机需要数十亿美元研发费用，这也反映出，日本要想跟上中国日益增长的军事实力，将面临痛苦的选择。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has raised Japan’s defence budget every year of his premiership but Japan’s stagnant⁶ economy means it is falling ever further behind China.

日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)上任后逐年提高了日本的防卫预算，但日本停滞的经济意味着它正被中国甩得越来越远。

Development of the X-2 reflects Japan’s dismay as it watches two powerful neighbours, Russia and China, develop stealth fighters while its US ally refuses to sell an equivalent aircraft.

X-2的研发反映出了日本的失望情绪。它眼看着两个强大的邻国——俄罗斯和中国——都在发展隐形战斗机，而盟友美国却拒绝向它出售同级别的飞机。

Sukhoi of Russia has built a stealth fighter called the T-50 while China is developing the Chengdu J-20. Both are expected to enter service in coming years, raising the prospect⁷ that Japan’s defences — over the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu islands, for example — will be outclassed.

俄罗斯的苏霍伊(Sukhoi)已经造出了T-50隐形战斗机，而中国的成都飞机工业集团正在研制歼-20战斗机(J-20)。二者都有望在几年后服役，这可能会让日本的防卫——比如对有争议的尖阁诸岛（Senkaku Islands，中国称钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿）的防卫——处于极大的劣势。

The US, however, has refused to sell Japan its own stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor, leaving Tokyo to rely on the less stealthy and less powerful F-35.

但美国却拒绝向日本出售其F-22“猛禽”隐形战斗机(F-22 Raptor)，东京方面不得不仰仗隐形和战斗能力不那么强的F-35战斗机。

That has prompted Japan to start its own stealth fighter programme.

这一局面促使日本启动了自己的隐形战斗机研发计划。

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

6 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。