評論
打印
These, in the form of missile-carrying Bayraktar tb2 drones from Turkey, helped Ukraine mount its defence in the early phases of the war.
這些來自土耳其的攜帶導彈的Bayraktar TB2無人機，幫助烏克蘭在戰爭的早期階段加強了防御。
But they are the size of light aircraft and need considerable supporting infrastructure, such as runways and refuelling facilities.
但它們的大小相當于輕型飛機，需要相當多的配套基礎設施，如跑道和加油設施。
A Switchblade, by contrast, can be carried around in a backpack (it is about the size of a baguette) and deployed whenever needed.
相比之下，“Switchblade”可以裝在背包里隨身攜帶（它大約有法棍那么大），并在需要的時候隨時使用。
It is also cheaper, far easier to distribute and can be used with minimal training.
它也更便宜，更容易分發，只需最少的培訓就可以投入使用。
Though thousands of Switchblades have been used in action by American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan since their introduction in 2011, they have until now flown under the metaphorical as well as the physical radar.
盡管自2011年“Switchblade”問世以來，美國軍隊在伊拉克和阿富汗使用了數千把彈簧刀，但到目前為止，它們一直處于象征描述和物理雷達的作用之下。
No video has been released of them in combat.
目前還沒有發布他們在戰斗中的視頻。
And they have been exported only to Britain, probably America’s most trusted ally.
而且它們只出口到英國，可能是美國最信任的盟友。
Ukraine, however, is well prepared to use them.
然而，烏克蘭已經做好了使用它們的充分準備。
Its military planners realised some time ago that loitering munitions could be an effective equaliser for a smallish country threatened by a large neighbour.
烏克蘭軍事規劃者不久前意識到，對于一個受到強大鄰國威脅的小國來說，“游蕩彈藥”可能是一個有效對抗攻擊的設備。
In 2017 the government signed a deal with wb Group, a Polish electronics company, to buy supplies of its catapult-launched Warmate loiterer, which has a weight of 5.3kg and a range of 15km—though legal problems interfered with its planned deployment last year, and whether it is now in use is not public information.
2017年，烏克蘭政府與波蘭電子公司WB Group簽署了一項協議，購買Warmate微型巡飛彈設備，該裝置重5.3公斤，射程15公里--盡管法律問題干擾了其去年的部署計劃，目前尚不清楚它是否已投入使用。
Nevertheless, in December the defence ministry announced that dedicated loitering-munition units would be formed within Ukraine’s army, to act as parts of “brigades of the future”.
然而，去年12月，烏克蘭國防部宣布，將在烏克蘭軍隊內組建專門的游蕩彈藥部隊，作為“未來旅”的一部分。
On top of all this, several Ukrainian firms are developing loiterers.
最重要的是，幾家烏克蘭公司正在開發游蕩彈藥設備。
The most advanced project is run by Athlon Avia, one of many enterprises which sprang up to aid the armed forces before, during and after the Crimean crisis of 2014.
其中最先進的項目是由Athlon Avia運營的，該公司是在2014年克里米亞危機之前、期間和之后涌現出來的為軍隊提供援助的眾多企業之一。
Since then, Athlon has become a full-fledged drone-maker, and one of its products, the st-35, is a loitering munition.
從那時起，Athlon已經成為一家成熟的無人機制造商，其產品之一st-35是一種游蕩彈藥。
This weapon passed flight tests with the Ukrainian army in 2020—though whether it has yet been deployed has not been announced.
這種武器在2020年通過了烏克蘭軍隊的飛行測試--盡管尚未宣布是否已經部署。
The st-35 is launched in an unusual way.
St-35發射方式很不同尋常。
Instead of being fired from the ground it is taken aloft by a multicopter drone which, after releasing it, then acts as a communication link.
它不是從地面發射，而是由一架直升飛機把它帶到空中，釋放后，無人機充當通信鏈路。
That gives an effective control range of 30km.
有效控制范圍為30公里。
Three other Ukrainian firms—Adrones, cdet and Cobra—are also working on the idea, and although none had a deployable system when the current war started, experience has shown that Ukrainian armourers excel at improvisation and at turning out usable products rapidly in difficult conditions.
其他三家烏克蘭公司--Adrones、CDET和Cobra--也在研究這一想法，盡管在當前的戰爭開始時，沒有一家公司擁有可部署的系統，但經驗表明，烏克蘭的裝甲商擅長即興發揮，可在困難的條件下迅速生產出可用的產品。
Weapons which offer the potential of striking unseen from long range, whether supplied from America or from Poland or in haste from local workshops, are particularly valuable.
無論是來自美國、波蘭還是當地工廠的武器，都具有進行遠距離打擊的潛力，這些武器特別有價值。
Their success may also give an insight into how important they could be in future wars.
它們的成功可能也讓我們了解到他們在未來戰爭中的重要性。
