经济学人:民用航空发动机 奋力一战

　　Business
商业报道
Civilian¹ jet engines
民用航空发动机
Gearing up for a fight
奋力一战
Pratt & Whitney hopes a high-tech² engine will restore its former dominance.
普拉特·惠特尼公司期待其新款的高科技航空发动机能重塑往日的统治力。
A challenger in the air
空中的挑战者
THE business of propelling large passenger jets is at maximum thrust.
大型载客飞机的业务正以史无前例的速度在发展。
Boeing and Airbus delivered a record 1,300 planes between them last year.
波音和空客在去年相继打破1,300架飞机的纪录。
They also racked up 2,800 new orders to bring their combined backlog³ to well over 10,000.
它们还赢得了2,800架飞机的新订单，从而使它们的共同未完成订单数冲破了10,000。
The engines account for up to a third of the value of a new jet.
由于飞机发动机的价值为整个飞机的三分之一，
2_副本.jpgSo some pundits⁴ reckon engine-makers' revenues could total 1 trillion over the next 20 years.
不少权威人士认定发动机制造商的利润总和会在未来20年内达到1万亿。
Pratt & Whitney used to tower over the market for such engines but these days it is third-placed in a business dominated by GE, another American company, and Rolls-Royce, of Britain. Pratt is now hoping to claw its way back to the top with its new generation of jet engine, the geared turbofan.
普惠公司曾在飞机发动机市场独占鳌头，然而今年来它已经跌到了第三位：该业务的头两位是同为美国公司的通用电气和英国的劳斯莱斯。
This has a gearbox that lets the fan at the front of the engine turn at a different speed to the compressors inside it.
普惠现在希望借助其新一代飞机发动机—齿轮传动涡轮发动机重夺市场。
By allowing each to run at optimal⁶ speeds it makes the engine more efficient.
该款发动机的变速齿轮箱可以使发动机前端的风扇根据内部的压缩机改变速度，从而能通过使发动机以最优速度运转来提高效率。
Pratt's new engine is one of the options airlines can choose when ordering Airbus's revamped version of its A320 narrowbody jet, used for short- to medium-haul routes.
各航线在订购空客公司用于中短程线路的改进版A320窄体客机时，普惠的新型发动机是其选择之一。
It is the only choice on the CSeries, a jet whose Canadian maker⁵, Bombardier, is seeking to bust⁷ a duopoly between Airbus and Boeing for narrowbodies.
而Bombardier—一家想在窄体机上打破空客和波音双头垄断的加拿大飞机制造商—旗下的C系列机型全部采用了这款发动机。
But the CSeries's entry into service was this month put back until perhaps 2015, two years later than first planned.
但C系列服役的时间在本月被推迟了，而且可能要一直等到2015年，这比原来计划的要晚上两年。
Understanding the aero-engine business is made harder by the fact that as they compete ferociously⁸ in one part of the market, manufacturers work together in joint⁹ ventures in other parts.
制作商一方面在局部市场上激烈竞争一方面又在另一部分市场上相互合作的事实使人很难理解航空发动机业务。
In all, about 70% of the world's jetliner engines are made either by GE alone or by CFM International, GE's joint venture with Snecma of France.
世界上所有喷气客机的发动机中70%是由通用电气或者CFM国际制造的。
CFM supplies all the engines for Boeing's 737, its rival to the A320.
CFM为波音旗下和A320竞争的另一款机型737提供发动机。
Buyers of A320s can currently choose between a CFM engine or one from International Aero Engines, a consortium including Pratt and Japanese and German firms.
如今，A320的购买者也可以在CFM和国际航空发动的发动机之间做出选择。
For bigger widebody jets, Rolls and GE are the main contenders.
而大型的广体飞机的主要供应商则是劳斯莱斯和通用电气。
Rivalry¹⁰ was more intense in the past.
在过去，竞争要更为激烈。
But the cost of developing a new engine, at around 1 billion, resulted in today's odd mix of competition and collaboration¹¹.
但是研发新型发动机所需的大约10亿美元高额费用造成了今天这种竞争和合作共存的怪异局面。
Airlines prefer competition, to keep costs down, but there are some advantages to doing without it.
各大航线乐于看到这种竞争，它能降低价格。但是如果没有这种竞争也能带来一些好处。
It means the plane and engine are made for each other, optimising their performance.
比如，这意味着飞机和发动机将会相互订制，从而使性能达到最佳。
An engine-maker guaranteed exclusivity may contribute towards the development costs of a new plane, cutting the risks borne by the planemakers.
一家专门的发动机供应商可以为降低新型飞机的研发费用做出贡献，减少飞机制造商们的负担。
Pratt has got by for years on its military-jet engines, its slice of IAE and by milking its installed base of older civil-aircraft engines, which need lots of maintenance and spare parts.
今年来普惠主要依靠军用飞机发动机，IAE的股份以及旧款民用航空发动机来维持运营，然而这些发动机需要更多的维修和零部件。
But from 2016, when the first revamped A320 is scheduled for delivery, its new geared turbofan engines, which it will make all by itself, will go head-to-head against CFM's LEAP.
而等到2016年改进版的A320按计划开始服役，普惠独立制造的齿轮传动涡轮发动机将能够和CFM的LEAP发动机齐头并进。
This is a more conventional engine design, but uses sophisticated composite materials to achieve the same fuel-efficiency savings¹², of around 15%, that airlines are demanding.
该款发动机的设计更为传统，但采用了组分更为复杂的材料来提高效率，能够节省航空公司要求的15%的燃料。
Pratt may eventually produce versions of its geared turbofan for wide-bodied jets, where profits are fatter.
普惠最终甚至会研发用于广体飞机的齿轮传动涡轮发动机，这一类发动机的利润要高得多。
Rolls, having given up on the narrowbodied market, plans to return when Boeing and Airbus replace their 737s and A320s with entirely¹³ new models—but that is a decade or more away.
已经放弃窄体机市场的劳斯莱斯计划在波音和空客用全新的机型替代737和A320后重返该市场，不过这要十多年后了。
Chinese and Russian firms want to enter the fray¹⁴, though that may take even longer.
中国和俄罗斯的公司也想分一杯羹，当然这需要更长的时间。
In the meantime, Rob Morris of Ascend¹⁵, an aviation consultancy, notes that the tendency towards having just one engine option per plane is growing.
与此同时，航空咨询公司超越集团的Rob Morris提到各飞机只搭配一款发动机的趋势逐渐流行。
For example, Rolls is the only engine supplier for Airbus's new long-haul plane, the A350, which had its first test flight last year.
比如，空客的新型长途飞机A350就只有劳斯莱斯一个发动机供应商，该款机型已经在去年初次试飞。
GE declined to offer an engine because some variants¹⁶ of the A350 are in direct competition with Boeing's 777, on which GE already supplies all the engines.
通用电气拒绝提供发动机的原因是A350的一些变体机种是波音777的直接竞争对手，而777的所以发动机均由通用电气提供。
Rolls and GE at least both offer engines for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which will compete with other variants of the A350.
劳斯莱斯和通用电气至少同时为与其他A350变体机竞争的波音787梦幻客机提供发动机。
So a return to vigorous competition among three or more engine-makers is far from guaranteed.
因而未必能回到三家甚至更多引擎制造商激烈竞争的局面。
Indeed, Zafar Khan of Societe Generale, a bank, suggests that since Rolls is relatively¹⁷ small and Pratt is part of a deep-pocketed conglomerate¹⁸, United Technologies, Pratt might contemplate¹⁹ bidding for Rolls to ensure its return to the widebodied market.
法国兴业银行的Zafar Khan表示鉴于劳斯莱斯相对规模较小，而普惠公司隶属于财力雄厚的企业集团联合科技，普惠可能会考虑出资买下劳斯莱斯来保证进入广体机业务。
That would require the agreement of the British government, which has a golden share in Rolls.
这需要得到有着劳斯莱斯黄金股份的英国政府的许可。
But if such a deal also ensured Rolls's long-term future, that might not be impossible.
不过如果这真的利于劳斯莱斯的长期未来，也并非没有可能。

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

3 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

4 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

5 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

6 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

7 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

8 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

11 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

12 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

15 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

16 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

17 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

18 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

19 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。