Japan's hopes of acquiring the jet touted as the world's most advanced fighter are being dashed. The commander of U.S. Forces Japan, in an unusually blunt remark, says even if American senators had not voted to halt further production of the F-22, there was little chance the aircraft would have been sold to its ally.
F-22战斗机被称为世界上最先进的战斗机，日本获得这种飞机的希望正在破灭。驻日本美军司令在一次异常坦率的谈话中说，即使美国参议员们没有投票否决增购F-22战斗机，向盟国出售这种飞机的可能性也很小。
The top American military commander in Japan rebuffed Tokyo's hopes of acquiring a new state-of-the-art fighter, just days after the U.S. Senate cut future funding for production of the combat jet.
在美国参议院削减未来生产F-22战斗机拨款的几天之后，驻日本美军最高指挥官打消了日本购买这种新的先进飞机的希望。
Lieutenant General Edward Rice on Thursday said the F-22 Raptor was never intended to be sold to other countries, despite interest expressed by such allies as Japan, Australia and Israel.
赖斯中将星期四说，美国从不想对外国出售F-22猛禽战斗机，尽管日本、澳大利亚和以色列等盟国表示有意购买。
"Given that the F-22 is not available to anybody in the world as an export aircraft, what is the best aircraft for Japan to purchase to secure their defensive needs of the available aircraft? I certainly am not in a position or would not take a position to try to suggest to the Japanese what aircraft they should buy," Rice said.
赖斯中将：“考虑到美国不向世界上任何人出口F-22，日本为自己的国防需要所能买到的最佳飞机是什么呢?这不该由我回答，我也不想表态，不想向日本建议买什么飞机。”
The Japanese and other allies may have to look at the smaller, slower and cheaper F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which has some of the advanced technology developed for the Raptor.
日本和美国的其他盟国也许不得不转向比较小，比较慢也比较便宜的F-35联合攻击战斗机(Joint Strike Fighter)。F-35拥有为猛禽战斗机开发的一些技术。
President Obama has said it would be a waste of money to build more F-22's, a stance many U.S. lawmakers supported. His administration wants to shift more of the defense budget away from conventional warfare projects that have huge costs.
奥巴马总统表示过，制造更多的F-22是浪费金钱。美国许多议员支持这一立场。奥巴马行政当局想在耗资巨大的常规战争项目上少花些钱。
But influential proponents of the F-22 in the U.S. Congress say that even if the Air Force does not want more of the twin-engine jets, they should be built for sale to allies. Supporters say the high-altitude supersonic fighter is ideal to counter any future threat from China's combat jets.
但是美国国会中支持F-22的有影响力的人士说，即使美国空军不想再多要这种双引擎喷气式飞机，美国也应该生产它，卖给盟国。
Japan's Air Self Defense Force primarily relies on F-4 and F-15 fighter jets. Defense officials here say their top preference to replace the aging F-4's remains the Raptor despite the funding cut by U.S. senators.
日本空中自卫队主要依靠F-4和F-15喷气式战斗机。日本防卫官员表示，尽管美国参议院削减了经费，他们用来取代F-4的优先选择，仍然是猛禽战斗机。 |