airandspaceforceclimbingandacceleerating翻译
AIR AND SPACE FORCE: CLIMBING AND ACCELEERATING 空天力量:攀登与加速 Richard P. Hallion 理查德• 哈里恩A century has passed since the advent of the military airplane, and almost a century since the establishment of the world’s first air force. Invented in 1903, adopted by the military in 1908, flown in combat in 1911, the airplane proliferated and matured at a rate remarkable even by the standards of the electronic revolution of the same century. And in much the same fashion that the computer’s potential impact was largely missed--in 1945, a prominent member of a National Research Council study committee stated baldly that the United States will never need more than five or six electronic computers, missing the American computer market of a half-century later by a factor of tens of million--the airplane’s impact upon military affairs was, likewise, something few foresaw or appreciated. 自军用飞机诞生和世界首支空军的建立已经有将近一百年的历史了。自从其 1903年被发明出来,1908年开始被军队接纳,并在 1911年投入战斗中使用, 军用飞机以令世人瞩目的速度急剧增多,渐趋成熟,其发展的速度甚至可以与 同世纪的电子革命相媲美。同样,与电子计算机的潜在作用在很大程度上被忽 视相类似,军用飞机的发展也几乎没有得到相应的重视:1945年,美国国家研 究委员会的一位重要人士断言称,美国所需要的电子计算机数量绝不会超过 5 个或 6个。这一言论直接导致了美国计算机市场的发展推迟了半个世纪之久以 及数以百万计的销售机会被错失;无独有偶,在军事领域中所起到的作用同样 没能被预见和足够重视。A TROUBLED BIRTH 艰难的诞生Developers and demonstrators of new technology typically encounter skepticism or derision, and in aeronautics it was ever thus. In August 1783, when Benjamin Franklin watched the ascent of a small unmanned hydrogen balloon over Paris as a “technology demonstrator” by scientist J.A.C.Charles and the brothers Jean and Noel Robert, an onlooker remarked, “Of what possible use of it?” Franklin shot back, “What is the use of a newborn babe?” The babe grew quickly: the balloon gave humanity its first “off-the-planet” observational vantage point, and not surprisingly, the balloon was soon adopted for military purposes. In April 1794, France Committee of Public Safety organized the world’s first aerial combat unit, and the following month it went to war for “l’observation des marches et mouvements des enemis.” At the Battle of Fleurus on June 26, 1794, aeronaut Jean Coutelle and General Antoine Morelot remained aloft in the balloon l’entreprenant for nine hours, observing enemy forces and dropping messages to be carried to French headquarters. Aided by this primitive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance(ISR) system, French forces were overwhelmingly victorious over their Austro-Dutch foes in the most crucial battle of revolutionary period.新技术的开发者和论证者通常都会遭到质疑和嘲笑,在航空领域中也是同样 如此。1783年 8月,本杰明•富兰克林参观了由科学家 J,A.C 查理,让氏兄弟 以及诺埃尔·罗伯特作为一次技术演示在巴黎上空进行的一个小型无人氢气球 试验。当氢气球缓缓上升时,一个旁观者说:“能有什么用呢?”富兰克林立 即回应了他:“一个刚刚出生的婴儿能有什么用呢?”这个“婴儿”成长得很快: 气球给了人类第一个远地的有利观测位置,果然,没过多久气球就被应用 到了军事当中。1794年 4月,法国公共安全委员会组建了世界上第一支空战单 位,并在接下来的一个月投入战争中用于 “观测敌军的行军和转移” 。在 1794 年 6月 26日的弗勒吕斯战役中,气球驾驶员让•库埃特和将军安托万•毛莱特 乘坐“勇气号”在空中持续飞行了 9个小时,发现了敌军的动向然后带着给法 国总部的信息降落。在这种原始的情报,监视和侦查系统的帮助下,法国以压 倒性的优势大败荷奥联军,取得了大革命时期最重要的一场战役的胜利。More than a century later, with the balloon now an accepted commonplace, a