波斯湾战机F15 F117第 18 课

In late 1991, despite the massive defense budget cuts Congress voted that production should begin on a dozen new F-117 Nighthawks国会在1991年， 国防预 算大量缩减之际 依然下令展开12架F117 夜鹰号的生产作业

During the Gulf War the F-15E and the F-117 Nighthawk received a great deal of publicity F15E与F117夜鹰号 因为在波湾战争中
for their performance as deep-interdiction bombers 卓越的拦截轰炸表现 而广受世人的瞩目
Much was made of their high-tech systems 最受喝采的还是它们的 高科技系统
their ability to drop precision bombs 精确的投掷率
and their prowess as all-weather night fighters 以及全天候的夜间战斗力

But eighty-four much older 另一种较旧型的机种
less-heralded planes flew more than four thousand sorties in the Gulf
在波湾战争中担任了 4千多趟任务
largely at night, in bad weather 多数是在恶劣的夜间
carrying heavy loads of laser-guided bombs 为数约84架、承载了 沉重的雷射导引炸弹
These were the F-111 F Aardvarks 它们就是F111F Aarduarks

Designed by General Dynamics F111是由通用动力公司 设计的
the F-111 entered Air Force service in 1967
于1967年开始服役
It was designed to carry virtually any bomb in the Service inventory including nuclear weapons 设计的初衷是为了承载 包括核子武器在内的 任何种类炸弹

The plane was tested in combat during the last years of the Vietnam War 该机种曾于越战末期历经考验

Later, it was kept at NATO bases 之后便储备于北约基地中
ready to fly in the event of a Soviet attack on Europe 随时于苏俄侵犯欧洲时 待命出机

In 1986, F-111 s mounted a precision strike against Libya F111于1986年对 利比亚进行过精确的轰炸任务

In test after test F111历经数次战争考验
the F-111 proved its ability to fly very low, very fast 证明了它具有低空高速 飞行的能力
even in bad weather at night and still hit its targets 即使在恶劣的夜间 依然有准确的命中率

The EF-111 jamming plane served alongside the F-111 bomber during the Gulf War 波湾战争期间， EF111 拦截机 与F111并肩作战
Together, they are deadly combination 成为如虎添翼的最佳组合