美国国家公共电台 NPR How To Stop A Drone? There's No Good Answer

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A small drone sparked enormous disruptions at London's Gatwick Airport this week. Thousands of passengers were grounded as police struggled to stop the drone or drones from flying into restricted airspace. Police have arrested two suspects in connection with the incident. NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports on why it's so hard to catch a drone.

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE¹: If you haven't been keeping up with drone technology, well, you're not alone. I had no idea how small they'd gotten.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

IJUSTINE EZARIK: I have a drone in my purse. There's a drone in here.

BRUMFIEL: That's one of about a bazillion drone unboxing videos you can find on YouTube. In addition to shrinking, drones are also getting more powerful. And they're flying for longer and further than ever.

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EZARIK: These batteries will also give you about 27 minutes of flight time, which is a pretty long time, actually.

BRUMFIEL: The authorities at Gatwick Airport near London discovered all of this for themselves on Wednesday when a small drone shut down the airport. Again and again, it flew into restricted airspace around the runway. Police arrived. A helicopter was called in. And yet, the drone, or possibly several drones - police aren't sure - it couldn't be stopped. Now, the solution might seem obvious. Why not shoot it down? Well, there's an answer for that also on YouTube.

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BRUMFIEL: This is video of a bunch of guys at a gun range in Arizona trying to hit a drone.

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BRUMFIEL: They get it, eventually. But obviously, unleashing² that kind of firepower at an airport in the London suburbs would be extremely dangerous. Developing technology to safely stop drones is becoming big business. Arthur Holland Michel is co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard³ College in New York. He says everyone from small start-ups to established military contractors⁴ are getting in the game with technologies to bring down drones.

ARTHUR HOLLAND MICHEL: We've seen things like, you know, water cannons⁵, lights and lasers to dazzle the drone sensors⁶.

BRUMFIEL: Some companies are even developing other drones to crash into the trespassing⁷ drones. But Michel says given all the different shapes and sizes that today's drones come in...

MICHEL: There is no single technique for detecting drones or for bringing them out of the sky that is going to be 100 percent effective against 100 percent of drones in 100 percent of cases.

BRUMFIEL: At Gatwick Airport, the military eventually had to be called in. According to press reports, they deployed⁸ an Israeli-made system known as Drone Dome⁹ to jam the signal to the drone from its controller. So far, it seems to be working. Geoff Brumfiel, NPR News.

1 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。

2 unleashing   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
• Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网

3 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

4 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。