推 QuentinHu: 建議你翻對意思就好，純粹以中文看這篇有幾句很癟腳 XD 05/04 22:36
新手試翻，歡迎指正。
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http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/10029/X
-47B-Drone-Autonomous-Mid-Air-Refueling-Successful.aspx
短網址: http://ppt.cc/xuPr
Source: Engineering.com
X-47B Drone Autonomous Mid-Air Refueling Successful
James Anderton posted on April 28, 2015
X-47B 無人機成功完成自主空中加油
Military aviation is one area of high technology and mass production that we
love to cover here at Engineering.com. Something very interesting happened
last week with the X-47B. This is a prototype autonomous vehicle, a drone,
made by the Northrop Grumman Corporation.
軍用航空是 Engineering.com 網站上，有關高科技和大規模生產中我們所喜愛談論的一
個領域。上週在由 Northrop Grumman 製造的 X-47B 無人機上有些有趣的進展 ，X-47B
是一個自主式無人飛行載具的原型。
Together with the Navy, Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated fully
autonomous mid-air refueling with the X-47B.
藉由美海軍協助 ，Northrop Grumman 已成功藉 X-47B 展示全自動空中加油技術。
What that means is the X-47B found an aerial tanker, hooked up to it and
refueled itself with no intervention from a pilot.
也就是說，在試驗中，X-47B 找到一個空中加油機，在沒有任何飛行員介入下實施對接
並自行完成裝填燃料程序。
Of course aerial refueling is not new. It’s been done since the 1950s, so we
regard it as an everyday occurrence. B-52s have done it, B-47s, way back in
the days of the Cold War have done it and not much is thought about it these
days.
當然，空中加油不是什麼新技術。它自20世紀50年代就已經發展完成，所以我們認為它每
天都在上演。 B- 52 轟炸機做的到，而B -47，早在冷戰的日子就做到了，因此這些日子
以來在空中加油的問題上並沒有太多著墨。
What’s significant about this is that it has larger implications for
geopolitics as a whole.
那無人機自主空中加油技術對整個地緣政治已造成的顯著影響是什麼？
If autonomous vehicles can refuel themselves than essentially they can stay
on station permanently. Drones could remain over possible trouble spots for
days, weeks, perhaps months at a time.
如果載具能為自已加油，實際它們可以在駐地永久停留。無人機可以在有問題地點待命幾
天、幾週，甚至幾個月。
So what this means politically, for President Obama for example, is he may
not need large-standing carrier task groups to project US force globally. He
may simply send swarms of autonomously refueling drones to hover overhead for
reconnaissance and other military purposes.
那政治上則意味著什麼？舉個例，美國總統 Obama，也許不再需要大型航空母艦戰鬥群編
組來滿足美軍的全球投射能力。他可能簡單地派送能自主加油的無人機隊來進行空中盤旋
偵察任務或其它軍事用途。
So it’s maybe a shift in the way power is projected.
因此，它可能改變投射軍事力量的方式。
It could be a shift in the way defense budgets are allocated.
它也可能轉變國防預算的分配方式。
In the long run one may wonder will there be a need for large carrier task
groups, will there be a need for cruise missile carrying attack submarines?
Difficult to say.
從長遠來看，人們可能想知道，是否仍需要大型航空母艦戰鬥群、是否仍需要帶有巡弋飛
彈的攻擊潛艦？很難說。
We know that Northrop Grumman began developing this refueling technology with
both the Navy and the Air Force almost a decade ago.
我們知道，Northrop Grumman 幾乎同時在十年前與美海、空軍合作開發這項空中加油技
術。
They’re using both GPS and infrared imaging to make sure that if any system
fails they have enough redundancy that they can still refuel the vehicle.
開發上同時使用 GPS 和紅外線成像雙系統，以確保一旦出現任何系統故障，仍有足夠的
餘裕完成載具燃料裝填。
This flight testing began in 2012 and they used a manned Learjet as a
surrogate for the X-47B.
這次飛行測試開始於2012年，他們使用人為操控的 Learjet 作為 X-47B 的替代品。
The companies involved in this program give you a sense of the gravitas of
this thing: Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, GKN Aerospace, Eton, GE, UTC
Aerospace Systems, Dell, Honeywell, MOOG, Parker Aerospace, Rockwell Collins.
知道參與該計劃的公司後，你將知道這項技術所占份量：Lockheed Martin、Pratt &
Whitney、 GKN Aerospace、 Eton、 GE、 UTC Aerospace Systems、 Dell、 Honeywell
、 MOOG、 Parker Aerospace、 Rockwell Collins。
These are heavyweight players in the aviation industry. I expect that this
autonomous vehicle capability, the ability to refuel themselves and stay in
the air almost indefinitely may be the future.
這些公司都是航空產業的重量級成員。我預期這個自主載具能自我加油、並在空中滯留的
能力將有著近乎無限可能性的未來。
If you’re a military pilot or thinking of becoming one, there might be a
lonely airspace for you in the future.
而如果你是一位軍方飛行員或正思考成為其中的一員，那麼等著你的未來可能是一個孤
獨的飛行場域。
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順帶一提，早在 2003 年時，NASA就用兩架 F/A-18A 驗證過自動空中加油技術
Autonomous Aerial Refueling (AAR)。
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/AAR/index.html#.VUW78Pmqqko
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