NBC晚间新闻 机场是否准备好应对潜在的无人机威胁

After struggling with dozens of drone sightings by shutting down operations twice, Gatwick Airport south of London finally brought in a system designed by an Israeli company to detect drones according to British media. The challenge of keeping drones and planes apart is growing more difficult and even accidentally bumping into a plane could be disastrous¹. A larger format² drone 10 to 15 pounds could do a significant amount of damage to an airplane and if it were close to the ground. It could result in loss of the airplanes. Even more worrisome is the prospect³ of an intentional⁴ attack.

IS terrorists overseas have been using hobbyist drones to carry explosives or dropped small bombs. Congress has been slow to respond to the drone threat. It only recently gave the federal government authority to disable drones that fly into restricted airspace and security experts say most airports are not prepared to deal with them. Salt Lake City's Airport is monitoring two of its runways with a system to deal with potential drones made by a Utah company. It uses radar⁵ to detect them and dispatches a drone hunter to bring them down. The company's CEO says it's not just airports that are unprepared. When we go into stadiums, when we go to airports, there's fences, there's all sorts of checkpoints and what we're learning now is that America needs to invest in airspace security just like ground security. It's a rapidly growing threat with 2 million drones estimated to be in the hands of American hobbyists by the end of 2019.

据英国媒体报道，在应对了数十次无人机目击事件、两次关闭机场之后，位于伦敦南部的盖特威克机场最终引进了一套以色列一家公司设计的无人机探测系统。将无人机和飞机分开的难度越来越大，甚至，无人机意外撞上飞机都可能带来灾难性的后果。如果一架10到15磅重的大型无人机靠近地面，它会对飞机造成相当大的损害。这可能会导致飞机失事。更令人担忧的事情是可能发生蓄意攻击。境外的伊斯兰国恐怖分子一直在使用业余无人机携带爆炸物或投掷小型炸弹。国会则对无人机威胁反应迟缓。直到最近，国会才授予联邦政府禁用进入受限空域的无人机的权利，安全专家说，大多数机场还没有准备好应对它们。盐湖城机场正在用一个系统监控机场的两条跑道，来应对潜在的犹他州一家公司制造的无人机。该系统会使用雷达来探测无人机，并派出一架猎人无人机来击落它们。该公司的首席执行官表示，没有做好应对无人机威胁准备的不仅仅是机场。当我们走进体育场，当我们走进机场时，里面有栅栏，有各种各样的检查站，我们现在意识到的是美国需要在空域安全上投资，就像地面安全一样。这是一个迅速变大的威胁，预计到2019年底，美国无人机爱好者将拥有200万架无人机。

1 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

2 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

3 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。

4 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

5 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。