CNN新闻英语第 17 课：Dangerous Drones 致命武器

Hattori 哈托利
If it goes into production, the Dragonfly will join a growing fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles. In Afghanistan, UAVs have scored some big successes watching and sometimes attacking enemy positions. Now, as Barbara Starr reports, the U.S. Air Force is testing new drones that, for the first time, will be able to launch missiles and bombs against enemy troops. 如果投入生产，“蜻蜓”飞机将成为日益扩大的无人飞行器中的一员。在阿富汗，无人飞机在侦察和攻击敌方阵地方面取得了巨大成功。正如芭芭拉·斯塔尔报道的，目前美国空军正进行首次能够向敌军发射导弹和炸弹的无人飞行试验。

注：
UAV：unmanned aerial vehicles 无人驾驶飞行器

Barbara Starr, CNN correspondent 芭芭拉·斯塔尔，CNN特派记者
After years of using Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, as spy planes to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance over hostile territory, the Air Force, for the first time, is now testing a new drone, one that will be heavily armed, flying into the battlefield with missiles and bombs and no pilot onboard. 在数年来用“捕食者”无人机对敌对国进行侦察和预警后，美国空军现在正测试一种新型无人机，可以装载大量弹药，携带导弹和炸弹到战场，但机上没有飞行员。

LT. COL. Douglas Boone, U.S. Air Force 道格拉斯·布恩，美国空军中校
They built this as a larger aircraft, that higher. It flies faster than regular Predator. We in the Air Force have bought two of these. We're flight testing them to see what are their characteristics, how high, how fast, how much weight can be carried internally, how much weight can be carried on the wings, and can we control them from the exact same ground station that we control our regular Predator. 这是一种大型飞机，它比常见的“捕食者”飞得更高更快。我们空军已经购买了两架，通过飞行测试它们的特性，多高、多快、内载多重、飞行时机翼载重多大，以及我们是否可以使用控制普通“捕食者”的同一地面站控制它。

注：
LT. COL：lieutenant colonel 中校，军衔的一级，位于上校与少校之间

Starr 斯塔尔
In February, an unmanned Predator in Afghanistan stalked three suspected AL Qaeda members from high overhead. It fired a Hellfire missile, killing all three men. The entire mission watched by ground controllers miles away and commanders back in the United States via video link. But it was the CIA, not military, which was operating that lethal UAV. 今年2月，一架装有3枚导弹的“捕食者”无人机从高空发现了3个怀疑是基地组织的恐怖分子。它发射了一枚“狱火”导弹，3人都饮弹丧生。这个任务从几英里外的地面控制站和远在美国本土的指挥官通过电视监视。但是控制这种致命的无人机的是中央情报局而不是军方。

Until now, only the CIA has had armed UAVs. Those owned by the military do not carry weapons, their only mission, reconnaissance and surveillance. The new Air Force armed Predator can carry up to eight Hellfire missiles, as well as 2,000-pound precision bombs and even miniature bombs now under development. 目前，只有中央情报局配备了携弹无人机。军队所有的无人机都不携带武器，它们唯一的任务是侦察和预警。空军正在研制最新的“捕食者”无人机，最多能携带8枚“狱火”导弹，还能装载2000磅精确制导炸弹以及正在研制的微型炸弹。

It will still be a spy plane, flying at 45,000 feet, nearly twice the altitude of the current version with twice the payload. It can stay airborne for 24 hours. Advanced sensors will allow the UAV to eyeball enemy troops 50 miles away and view objects four inches across. Analysts point out that UAVs fly relatively slowly and are vulnerable to being shot down. 新“捕食者”仍然是一种侦察机。飞行高度45000英尺，是当前机型装载弹药的双倍以及爬升高度的两倍。可以在空中滞留24小时。超级感应器能让无人机观测到50英里之外的敌军，看清4英寸见方的物体。分析家指出，无人机飞行速度较慢，很容易被击落。

Michele Flournoy, Center for Strategic and International Studies 麦科勒·弗洛诺，战略和国际研究中心
There's always, of course, the additional possibility of an enemy, once they realize the UAVs are there could try to actively conceal things, deceive, create disinformation, things that would essentially fool the eyes of the UAV. 当然，有这样的可能，敌方一旦知道有无人机，就会主动进行隐蔽、制造假信息，主要是为了蒙骗无人机的眼睛。

Starr 斯塔尔
Pentagon war planners say the next step is already in the works, actual combat airplanes with no one in the cockpit and ground controllers miles away. As 21st century warfare unfolds, it may be planes without pilots that win the next generation of wars. 国防部负责战争计划的人员称，下一步真正远距离控制的无人攻击机已经在研制当中。正如21世纪战争所昭示的，打赢下一代战争的武器也许就是无人飞机。