美国国家公共电台 NPR--Pentagon manages new tensions after a Russian warplane hit an unarmed U.S. drone

Pentagon manages new tensions after a Russian warplane hit an unarmed U.S. drone

Transcript¹

The top U.S. and Russian defense² officials spoke³ by phone, a rare occurrence during the past year of war in Ukraine. The aim was to bring down tensions after a U.S. drone crashed in the Black Sea.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK. Sacha, I need you to catch me up a little bit. I've been on assignment the last couple of days, as you know, and I only just heard a little bit about some kind of drone. What happened with this drone?

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

So there was an American drone flying over the Black Sea doing some kind of surveillance. It ended up in the water. This happened Tuesday. The U.S. says a Russian plane struck it, but Russia claims the plane and the drone didn't even make contact. Now, there is a video - we've been seeing it in the studio this morning - but there's still disagreement about the video.

INSKEEP: Yeah, you see this plane swooping⁴ by the drone - the drone's-eye view. And NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre has been following this. Greg, good morning.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: So can this video out today resolve this dispute about the facts?

MYRE: Well, it is pretty compelling. The video shows Russian jets making two passes very close to the U.S. drone from behind. In the first one, the Russian jet sprays fuel in an apparent attempt to fog the camera or sensors⁶ on the drone. And then there's almost an identical second pass. The Russian jet again sprays fuel, and this time, the video feed goes blank. The video feed recovers. The military says it took about 60 seconds. And then you clearly see one prop⁷ or blade on the propeller⁸ that's mangled⁹. The U.S. says the drone was unable to fly at this point and then crashed into the Black Sea off Ukraine's southern coast.

INSKEEP: OK, So you don't have video of the Russian plane literally¹⁰ striking the drone, but you have evidence of some kind of damage and evidence of this fuel spray. And I guess we should mention that anybody can look at this video for themselves now.

MYRE: That's right, Steve. It's all over social media. And just be aware if you're watching it. The, propeller on this drone is at the back of the drone. So the camera is filming the back side of the aircraft. And the video is a little over 40 seconds. The Pentagon says it was edited, but it was shown in the order that the events happened.

INSKEEP: Are the Russians responding?

MYRE: No, not immediately. Their position has been that there was no contact between the jets and the drone and that the drone crashed on its own.

INSKEEP: Now, given the repeated passes of the plane by this drone, based on the video, does the U.S. assert that the Russian pilot deliberately¹¹ brought the drone down?

MYRE: Well, they're not sure. The top U.S. general, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint¹² Chiefs, said he's not convinced or not sure yet. He spoke about this at the Pentagon yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARK MILLEY: Was it intentional¹³ or not? Don't know yet. We know that the intercept¹⁴ was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional. We also know it was very unprofessional and very unsafe.

INSKEEP: OK. So that's what the U.S. military is saying in public. What are they saying when they reach out to their Russian counterparts on the phone?

MYRE: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart, and Austin said the U.S. would continue to fly wherever international law allows. And this means continued flights over the Black Sea off Ukraine's southern coast. You can just go on social media to the sites that track the U.S. planes, and you can see them making these repeated circles over international airspace in the Black Sea. They're trying to pick up information, perhaps about Russian troops in southern Ukraine or Russian warships¹⁵ in the sea.

INSKEEP: What does this say about the possibility of some accidental conflict between the United States and Russia?

MYRE: Well, it shows how quickly things can escalate¹⁶. But it's also clear that President Biden is taking a very measured response here. The U.S. is not making any public demands on Russia or threatening any retaliation¹⁷. It's - clearly, U.S.-Russian relations are extremely troubled at this point. But Secretary Austin stressed the importance of keeping the lines of communication open.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LLOYD AUSTIN: I think it's really key that we're able to pick up the phone and engage each other, and I think that will help to prevent miscalculation going forward.

MYRE: And given the latest developments we have here, they may need to have another phone call.

INSKEEP: NPR's Greg Myre, I'm glad you got on the line with us.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

7 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

8 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

9 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

14 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

15 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

16 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

17 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》