2.Anti-drone technology（612）

2.Passage Two

Anti-drone technology

反无人机技术

【1】Anduril hopes its "roadrunner" missile will shake up arms-makers，Palmerluckey is no stranger to hype. In 2014 he sold Oculus, a virtual-reality startup, to Face book for two billion dollars, kickstarting the current wave of interest in VR.

安都瑞尔公司希望其“走鹃”导弹将能颠覆军工制造商，帕尔默·勒基是炒作的熟手。2014年， 他将一家虚拟现实（VR）初创公司奥克卢斯以20亿美元的价格卖给了Facebook，掀起了虚拟现实热潮，延续至今。

【2】In 2017 he co-founded Anduril, another startup, this time focused on weapons. On November 29th Mr Luckey said Anduril would release "a radical new category of weapon that is totally unlike anything that has come before it". On December 1st he unveiled(showed) roadrunner, a missile-cum-drone. It is not revolutionary. But it is interesting.

2017年，他同别人一起创办了另一家公司安都瑞尔，但这次却着眼于武器领域。11月29日，帕尔默·勒基称，安都瑞尔将发布“一种全新的武器，和先前的任何武器都完全不同”。12月1日，帕尔默·勒基宣布走鹃问世，这是一种导弹式无人机，尽管并非革命性的产品，但的确很值得关注。

【3】Roadrunner has two party tricks. Its payload can be changed depending on the mission. Sensors can be installed for surveillance(monitoring), for instance. But the company's emphasis is on roadrunner-M, which is explosive-tipped and designed to destroy drones. It is also reusable.

走鹃有两个亮点。它的有效载荷可以依任务而变。比如，可以安装传感器进行监测。但是该公司的重量级产品是 走鹃-M，装有炸药，专门设计用于摧毁无人机，而且可以重复使用。

【4】Most air-defence systems, including America's Patriot and Israel's Iron Dome, fire several missiles at a target to boost the odds of a kill. Unused ones are lost. Roadrunners can talk to each other in flight. If one takes out the target, the rest can return home and land.

大多数防空系统，包括美国的爱国者导弹和以色列的铁穹大多数防空系统，包括美国，都会向目标发射数发导弹以提高成功摧毁目标的几率，但这意味着没用上的导弹就浪费了。走鹃可以在战斗中互相通信。如果有一架成功击毙目标，那么其他的就会返回并安全降落。

【5】Both features have precedents(examples). "Loitering munitions" such as Israel's mini-Harop or the Polish Warblefly can land, too. The Coyote, an air-defence weapon built by RTX, an American firm previously(formerly) known as Raytheon, also has modular payloads. But putting everything together is new.

这两项功能都有先例。以色列的迷你哈罗普或波兰的鸣鸟等“游荡弹药”（又称自杀无人机）也能实现着陆。郊狼是由RTX（一家前身名为雷声的公司）制造的防空武器，也具有模块化有效载荷。但像走鹃这样把所有功能集于一体的还是头一次。

 【6】Anduril claims roadrunner is "far superior" to competing missiles, with higher take-off speed, a bigger payload and ten times the range. Brian Schimpf, the firm's boss, says it can also cope with(deal with) faster, more evasive drones likely to appear over the coming years, which might be comparable to high-end cruise missiles.

安都瑞尔称走鹃比竞争品牌的导弹“优秀太多”，发射速度快、有效载荷大并拥有十倍射程。该公司的老板布莱恩·辛普夫表示，它还可以应对未来几年可能出现的更快、更擅长规避的无人机，后者或许能和高端巡航导弹相媲美。

【7】Perhaps. Comparing air-defence systems is tricky(unreliable), for they are designed for different things. Iron Dome deals with small rockets. Patriot handles(deals) large missiles and planes. Coyote is built for what the Pentagon calls Group One and Two drones, which weigh less than 25kg and fly below 3,500 feet (1,069 metres). 

比较不同的防空系统或许不太靠谱，因为它们的设计意图并不相同。铁穹的目标是小型火箭；爱国者导弹则是大型导弹和飞机。郊狼是为五角大楼所谓的第一组和第二组无人机建造的，重量不到25千克，飞行高度低于3500英尺（1069米）。

【8】Roadrunner is designed for Group Three threats, which can weigh almost 600kg and fly up to 18,000 feet, like the Iranian Shahed-136 drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine.

走鹃则是为应对第三组无人机而设计的，重量高达近600千克，飞行高度高达18000 英尺，就像俄罗斯用来攻击乌克兰的伊朗萨德-136 无人机一样。

【9】A Coyote costs about $100,000 per unit. roadrunner is priced(costed) at "low six figures". That makes it "not much cheaper than many existing air-defence missiles that can engage(reply) a far wider range of higher-end threats", like cruise missiles, says Justin Bronk of the RUSI think-tank in London.

一架郊狼的单位成本约为 10万美元。走鹃的价格为“较低的六位数”。伦敦RUSI智库的贾斯汀·布朗克说，这使得它“并不比许多现有的防空导弹便宜多少，现在这些导弹就可以应对更广泛的高端威胁”，比如巡航导弹。

【10】He points to NASAMS, a Norwegian-American system which uses off-the-shelf missiles. The cheapest cost around $400,000 to $500,000 each.

他提到NASAMS，这是一个使用现成导弹的挪威-美国系统。最便宜约为每个40万至50万美元。

【11】Nonetheless, America's special forces have already bought a few Roadrunners. Anduril will hope large-scale production can bring costs down. But anti-drone technology is a crowded field.

尽管如此，美国的特种部队已经购买了几架走鹃。安都瑞尔希望通过大规模生产来降低成本。然而，反无人机技术领域竞争激烈。

【12】In 2019 an American destroyer downed an Iranian drone using electronic warfare(war). High-powered microwave weapons and lasers have been fitted(installed) on warships and tested at air bases.

2019年，一艘美国驱逐舰利用电子战击落了一架伊朗无人机。军舰已经安装了高功率微波武器和激光器，并在空军基地进行了测试。

【13】Roadrunner's theatrical launch reflects a divide(split) in America's arms industry. Critics see the country's established firms as complacent(self-satisfied) and lazy, and welcome disruption from scrappy newcomers such as Anduril.

走鹃的问世具有戏剧性，反映了美国军火产业的分裂。批评者认为该国的老牌公司又自满、又懒惰，因此欢迎像安都瑞尔这样斗志昂扬的新秀挑战老牌公司。

【14】Indeed, roadrunner's name is a deliberate(cogitative) dig. In the Looney Tunes cartoon of the same name, the nimble roadrunner outwits Wile E. Coyote's attempts(tries) to catch it with needlessly complicated gadgets(equipment).

事实上，走鹃这个名字不是随便取的。在同名的乐一通动画片（汉译名称“BB鸟”或哔哔鸟）中，灵活的走鹃这一角色智胜了野狼怀尔。而后者甚至认为打败走鹃都不必用上复杂设备。

【15】The big players, for their part, roll their eyes at upstarts with little experience of mass production. But there is nothing like a little competition to spur everybody on.

就大公司而言，他们嫌弃几乎没有大规模生产经验的初创公司。但是，没有什么比一点竞争更能让所有人都斗志昂扬了。