2021年经济学人 从科幻走向现实的"空中航母"呼之欲出(1)

Aerial warfare¹

空战

Blue-sky thinking

蓝天畅想

Planes can be launched from land and sea. Why not from the air as well?

飞机能从陆地和海上起飞。为什么不能从空中起飞呢？

Aircraft-carriers are juicy targets. They are also increasingly vulnerable ones. Like medieval castles in the age of the cannon², technological³ advance threatens to make them redundant⁴. Satellites and over-the-horizon radars⁵ mean pinpointing⁶ their locations is easier. And a single well-aimed, well-armed missile may be enough to render a carrier useless, even if one shot does not sink it outright⁷.

航空母舰是诱人的攻击目标。它们也越来越脆弱。就像大炮时代的中世纪城堡那样，技术进步让它们面临被淘汰的危险。有了卫星和超视距雷达后，要精准定位它们变得更容易了。而一枚瞄准精确、装备精良的导弹即使不能彻底击沉一艘航母，可能也足以让它报废。

American naval⁸ planners are particularly worried about China's DF-26. This weapon, which came into service in 2018, is a so-called manoeuvring ballistic missile (meaning it can vary its final approach path, rather than being subject solely⁹ to the laws of gravity) that has been dubbed¹⁰ a "carrier killer¹¹". The DF-26 can be launched from a lorry, and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead.

中国的东风-26格外让美国的海军规划人员不安。这种武器于2018年开始服役，是一种被称为“航母杀手”的机动变轨弹道导弹（也就是说它可以改变最后的接近路线，而不仅仅遵循万有引力定律运动）。东风-26可从发射车上发射，可以搭载常规弹头或核弹头。

This threat is fearsome enough to keep American carriers at least 1,600km from China's coast, reckons Bryan Clark, a naval strategist at the Hudson Institute, a think-tank. That is much farther than the range of a carrier's warplanes unless they can be refuelled in-flight. America's Department of Defence is therefore looking for a workaround. One back-to-the-future idea being tested (it dates, originally, from 1917) is to turn a suitable plane into an aerial aircraft-carrier capable of launching and recovering uncrewed drones in flight. This would allow seaborne carriers to be kept well out of harm's way.

如此强大的威慑力足以让美国航母退至距中国海岸线至少1600公里以外，智库哈德逊研究所（HudsonInstitute）的海军战略研究员布莱恩克拉克（BryanClark）认为。这远远超出了航母战机的作战半径，除非它们能在空中加油。因此美国国防部正在寻找对策。有一个“回到未来”式的想法（最早出现于1917年）正在试验中，即把一架合适的飞机改造成能在空中发射和回收无人机的空中航母。这将使海上的航母远离危险。

Castles in the sky

空中堡垒

To that end DARPA, the defence department's advanced research projects agency, is running a programme called Gremlins, a name that also applies to the individual drones themselves. A Gremlin drone weighs 680kg and has a wingspan of nearly 3.5 metres. Once it has been dropped, deployed¹² its wings and fired up its turbofan engine, it can fly to an area up to 500km away and in the words of Scott Wierzbanowski, the Gremlin programme's head, "go in and create havoc¹³". That done, it would then return to its aerial mothership.

为此，美国国防部高级研究计划局（DARPA）正在开展一项名为“小精灵”（Gremlins）的项目，参与项目的无人机也叫这个名字。一架小精灵无人机重680公斤，翼展近3.5米。一旦它被投放到空中，展开机翼，启动涡扇发动机，就可以飞到远至500公里外的地方，用小精灵项目负责人斯科特维尔兹巴诺夫斯基（ScottWierzbanowski）的话来说，“前去大闹天宫”。完成任务后，它将返回在空中的母舰。

Gremlins would operate in fleets, under ultimate human control. In this, they are similar to the "loyal wingman" idea of drone squadrons accompanying a crewed fighter aircraft into battle. Loyal wingmen, however, would take off from and land on terra firma, or possibly a conventional, naval, aircraft-carrier. Operational Gremlins need never touch the ground.

小精灵们会在人类的终端控制下编队行动。在这一点上，它们和“忠诚僚机”的设计相似，也就是让无人机中队跟随有人战机参战。但忠诚僚机的起降会在陆地上，或者有可能是在常规的海上航母上。而在执行任务中的小精灵永远不需要接触地面。

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

2 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

3 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

4 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

5 radars   

n.雷达( radar的名词复数 )；雷达装置

参考例句：

• Servos for large radars and launchers are either electro-hydraulic or all-electric. 大型雷达和发射装置的伺服系统，不是电动-液压式的，就是全电动式的。 来自辞典例句
• Range-velocity simultaneous pull-off is one of effective measures for countering PD radars. 距离-速度同步拖引干扰是对抗PD雷达的有效方法。 来自互联网

6 pinpointing   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的现在分词 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• The difficulty of pinpointing primitive and derived characters remains. 要正确地指出原始性状和次生性状仍然感到困难。
• Pinpointing the true source of power in Japan is a notoriously slippery task. 要准确指出日本真正的权力来源，是一项非常困难的任务。

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

9 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

10 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

13 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。