2021年经济学人 从科幻走向现实的"空中航母"呼之欲出(3)

To that end, costs must be kept low. The defence department plans to pay less than $800,000 a pop for Gremlins, though that would be for an order of 1,000 of them. So, if a couple were shot down in an operation, "that's okay, it really doesn't matter," says Mr Wierzbanowski. In military jargon¹, he describes the things as "attritable". Dynetics' working assumption is that each Gremlin will fly a maximum of about 20 missions. This means they can be made from less durable², and therefore cheaper materials and components³.

为此必须保持低成本。美国国防部计划为一架小精灵花费不超过80万美元，不过那是订购1000架的价格。所以，如果一次行动中有几架小精灵被击落，“没关系，真的不要紧”，维尔兹巴诺夫斯基说。用军事术语来说，他称小精灵是“可消耗的”。Dynetics初步假设每架小精灵最多能执行大约20次飞行任务。这意味着它们的制造材料和部件可以不那么耐用，价格也就更低。

The aerial aircraft-carrier of choice for the Gremlin project is a modified C-130 cargo⁴ plane, which could carry up to four of the drones in bomb racks slung⁵ under its wings. That would make for a small squadron, but numbers could be bolstered⁶ by further drones dropped from accompanying fighters or bombers⁷. Deploying⁸ the drones is therefore fairly easy. The tricky⁹ part is fishing them out of the air when they return from a mission. For this, Dynetics has designed a special recovery system that fits above a C-130's cargo ramp¹⁰.

小精灵项目首选的空中航母是经改造的C-130运输机，它机翼下方悬挂的炸弹架最多可以搭载四架无人机。这将形成一个小型中队，但随着同行的战斗机或轰炸机投放更多的无人机，总体数量就会增加。因此无人机的投放还算容易。棘手的部分是当它们完成任务返回时把它们从空中打捞回来。为此，Dynetics设计了一种安装在C-130运输机货舱门上方的特殊回收系统。

When a Gremlin flies back to the mothership, the cargo ramp opens and the recovery system lowers a boom out of it. This boom releases a pod on a ten-metre-long tether, and that pod clamps onto a short engagement arm which pops out of the top of the Gremlin itself. A successful capture shuts off the Gremlin's engine. A winch then hoists¹¹ the drone on board. This arrangement should be able to pull eight Gremlins an hour out of the air.

当小精灵飞回母舰时，货舱门打开，从回收系统里放下一根吊杆。吊杆释放出一个用十米长的线缆连接的吊舱，吊舱抓住从小精灵顶部弹出的一个短的啮合臂。捕获成功后，小精灵的发动机就会关闭，再由绞盘将它拉上飞机。这种方式应该能在一小时内从空中拉回八架小精灵。

That, at least, is the idea. So far, though Gremlins have managed to come within centimetres of successful capture, such capture has not been achieved. But Dynetics hopes some software tweaks will deal with this by the summer, when operational testing of the Gremlins system by the air force is supposed to begin.

至少想法是这样的。到目前为止，小精灵尚未被成功捕获过——还差那么几厘米。但Dynetics希望一些软件上的改进可以在今年夏天之前解决这个问题，届时美国空军应该会启动对小精灵系统的实操测试。

This testing will include flights with various sorts of payloads. But the most important thing to be tested will be how well Gremlins are able to co-operate—for instance, by swapping¹² tasks as circumstances evolve. For this, the air force is developing software that emerged from a different DARPA programme, called Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment. It will not be able to orchestrate a fully¹³ autonomous¹⁴ "swarm¹⁵", at least for now. The goal, rather, is to give individual drones enough autonomy for a single human operator to be able to oversee¹⁶ a cluster of them.

这次测试将包括携带各种有效载荷的飞行。但最重要的是测试小精灵们的协作能力，比如随环境变化而交换任务。为此美国空军正在开发一款软件，它来自DARPA的另一个项目，名为“拒止环境中的协同作战”。该软件并不能组织一个完全自主的“机群”，至少目前不能。确切地说，它的目标是让单架无人机具备足够的自主行动力，这样一名人类操作员就能够监管一群无人机。

1 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

2 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

6 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

7 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

11 hoists   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Mine hoists are usually operated by the counterbalance of an ascending and a descending car. 矿井升降机通常用一个升车一个落车互相平衡的方法进行操作。
• Sam understands tacitly. He hoists his cup saying. 山姆心领神会，举起酒杯。

12 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

15 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

16 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。