PBS高端访谈:a - 10疣猪飞机着落

 　　GWEN IFILL: As Defense¹ Secretary Chuck Hagel announced yesterday, the Pentagon is grappling with what to keep and what to cut in a time of tight budgets and national security challenges.

　　At the Air Force, leaders have set their sights on grounding a plane that’s been a reliable standby for decades. But its defenders² won’t give up without a fight.

　　Defense producer Dan Sagalyn has been tracking the debate.

　　Kwame Holman narrates³ this report.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:A typical day at Martin State Airport on Maryland’s Eastern Shore includes chemical weapons training with the A-10 Warthog.

　　The National Guard base is one of the homes of an aircraft beloved by ground forces, who see it as their guardian⁴ in the sky. Its pilots view infantry⁵ on the ground as their primary customer and responsibility. Most combat aircraft shoot down other planes or drop bombs or both. But the Warthog was designed specifically to come in low and attack enemy forces in a mission called close air support.

　　MAN: North and South, west of the smoke, west of the smoke.

　　MAN:OK, copy. West of the smoke, I’m looking at danger close now.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Oftentimes, the enemy is within yards of friendly forces. This video captures the exchange between a Warthog pilot and a ground controller calling in a strike on Taliban forces in 2006 in Southern Afghanistan.

　　MAN:Roger. Keep your fire west of the smoke.

　　MAN:OK. Copy that.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: Major Chris Cisneros trains Warthog pilots in the Air Force’s 104th Fighter Squadron.

　　MAJ. CHRIS CISNEROS, Air Force: Close air support is kind of a pickup⁶ game, if you will. If a friendly convoy⁷ is out, and they have come under fire unexpectedly, you want to talk to the good guys, figure out where they are exactly, and then find where the enemy is and execute from there.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:The Air Force has about 350 Warthogs. Flying below cloud cover, its pilots can see with their own eyes what they’re attacking. It can loiter over the battlefield, a cockpit protected by a titanium shell and bulletproof glass, making it survivable even when hit by small-arms fire.

　　Its most lethal⁸ weapon is a .30-millimeter Gatling gun that fires almost 4,000 rounds per minute. But top Pentagon officials now say the Warthog’s days are over. They want to eliminate the entire fleet and save $3.5 billion over five years.

　　Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters yesterday that money could be better spent on newer, more capable and survivable aircraft.

　　CHUCK HAGEL, Secretary of Defense:The A-10 is a 40-year-old single-purpose airplane originally designed to kill enemy tanks on a Cold War battlefield. It cannot survive or operate effectively where there are more advanced aircraft or air defenses.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Retired General Norton Schwartz agrees with the defense secretary. He closed down some Warthog units when he was Air Force chief of staff from 2008 to 2012. He acknowledges the A-10 is beloved, but says the Air Force has other planes that can protect troops on the ground just as well.

　　And Schwartz says the U.S. military’s newest warplane, the multi-mission and long-delayed F-35 Joint⁹ Strike Fighter, also can handle close air support. The F-35 is designed to replace most of the U.S. strike aircraft fleet.

　　GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ, Former Air Force Chief of Staff:What you want to do is to have platforms that can perform the mission, that mission and as many other as might be required in the future.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:But service personnel up and down the ranks told the NewsHour the A-10 is unique.

　　MAJ. DANIEL O’HARA, Marine¹⁰ Corps¹¹: I have sort of found a soul mate, so to speak, in the A-10.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: Marine Corps Major Daniel O’Hara, who led a platoon in Afghanistan, says the Warthog scared the Taliban.

　　MAJ. DANIEL O’HARA:The psychological effect it has on the enemy, I think, is pretty clear, and I also think it has an equally positive psychological effect on friendly forces.

　　You see that aircraft come on station, you know what it’s capable of, you know that the enemy on the other side probably doesn’t want to mess with you while that’s — that’s in the air.

　　PIERRE SPREY, Member, A-10 Design Team: We are outraged¹² at the Air Forces latest attempt to kill the A-10.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: Pierre Sprey helped design the Warthog in the late 1960s and ’70s. He says it was built to do more than destroy Soviet¹³ tanks and that its uniquely tough airframe made it more survivable and capable than alternative aircraft.

　　He says those newer planes cost much more to fly. He and other A-10 supporters mobilized to save the plane at a recent conference in Washington, D.C.

　　PIERRE SPREY:You are going to buy extremely expensive aircraft that cause you a much worse financial problem, right, and you are canning the cheapest airplane you operate, right, and saving a trivial amount of money.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: General Schwartz says improvements in cockpit cameras, radars¹⁴, electronics and precision munitions¹⁵ mean the planes that would replace the A-10 are much better at protecting ground forces even from far above.

　　GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ:Increasingly, the technology has allowed us to enjoy the same protections for friendlies through other means.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:But A-10 advocates say technology has limits.

　　LT. COL. BILL SMITH (RET.), Former A-10 squadron commander:Technology is good, but the problem with using that technology, especially the optical stuff, is that it’s like looking through a soda¹⁶ straw. So imagine you hold a straw up to your eye, and that’s how you have to view the whole battlefield.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Retired Lieutenant¹⁷ Colonel Bill Smith flew Warthogs over an 18-year career, including combat missions in Afghanistan. He also participated in the save the A-10 event.

　　LT. COL. BILL SMITH:With looking with your eyeballs, I can turn my head around and I can see much more of the battlefield than I can with slewing¹⁸ that pod around. And I can see the bigger picture. I’m able to maybe catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and look down and go, oh, you know what? There’s a little bit of dust over there.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:A-10 advocates are getting support on Capitol Hill. Senator Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican, wants to hold off on dumping the A-10 until the new Joint Strike Fighter proves it can do close air support. Ayotte, whose husband is a former A-10 pilot, says the Air Force should find other places to save money.

　　SEN. KELLY AYOTTE, R-N.H.:The Air Force spent a billion dollars on an I.T. system that they’re not going to get anything out of and they just canceled in 2012. So I think we should take a step back for a minute and make sure that there aren’t any more of those billion-dollar systems out there.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:But General Schwartz says the days of such wasteful¹⁹ spending by the Pentagon are over and that today’s shrinking military budgets mean programs like the A-10 are a luxury.

　　GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ: The dilemma²⁰ is, what else in the Air Force do we stop doing in order to keep the A-10? So what child care center do we not keep open? What base do we compromise security?

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Pierre Sprey says the Air Force has mounted a campaign to retire the A-10 by making political and spending deals across the country.

　　PIERRE SPREY:They have reached out to state governors, state adjutant generals of the National Guard, to basically to bribe²¹ them to not complaining about losing their A-10s, promising²² them something, an F-16 squadron, a KC-46 tanker²³ squadron, whatever the payoff is state by state.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: Staff to several members of Congress, who would speak only on background, told the NewsHour the Air Force had promised to station new aircraft in their member’s state to replace the A-10. They said, as a result, their lawmakers weren’t complaining about the A-10′s retirement²⁴.

　　General Schwartz said he doubts the Air Force is bartering²⁵ like that, but if they are:

　　GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ: The effort that Secretary Donley and I made ran into some headwind. And if the decision of the current serving leadership is that they — they want to choose to reduce some of that headwind after that painful experience, I offer no objection.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Whether Congress goes along with the Air Force’s plans to retire the Warthog remains²⁶ to be determined²⁷. Pierre Sprey says ground forces need the protection the A-10 provides.

　　PIERRE SPREY:What is at stake is the lives of a lot of troops. Troops, in the field, we owe them the ability to pull them out of trouble.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: General Schwartz says, that won’t change, even without the A-10.

　　GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ: Our airmen, when they hear this call, troops in contact need help now, you should have no doubt that Air Force airmen are going to speed to that point and take care of business.

　　KWAME HOLMAN:Back at Martin State Airport, pilots and ground crews continue train on and maintain the A-10. The question is, for how long?

　　GWEN IFILL:We will have more with Warthog designer Pierre Sprey, who knows the plane inside and out. That’s on our home page.

1 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。

2 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

4 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

6 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

7 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

9 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。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

13 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

14 radars   

n.雷达( radar的名词复数 )；雷达装置

参考例句：

• Servos for large radars and launchers are either electro-hydraulic or all-electric. 大型雷达和发射装置的伺服系统，不是电动-液压式的，就是全电动式的。 来自辞典例句
• Range-velocity simultaneous pull-off is one of effective measures for countering PD radars. 距离-速度同步拖引干扰是对抗PD雷达的有效方法。 来自互联网

15 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

16 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

17 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

18 slewing   

n.快速定向，快速瞄准v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Slewing bearings are basic components widely used in construction machinery industry. 回转支承是工程机械行业的重要基础件。 来自互联网
• It is used for the crane slewing bearing. 这是用于起重机的回转支承。 来自互联网

19 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

20 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

21 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

22 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

23 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

24 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

25 bartering   

v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Parliament would be touchy about bartering British soil for ships. 用英国国土换取舰只，议会感到为难。 来自辞典例句
• In former times trade was based on bartering--goods were exchanged for other goods. 以前，贸易是以易货（即货物交换）的方式进行的。 来自辞典例句

26 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

27 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。