Vaunted1) Technology: Stealth2) Avionics3)
Northrop Grumman Corp.(NGC)boasts4) on its Web site the B-2spirit stealth bomber5) is nearly invisible.Because the plane’s composite materials and bat-shaped design make it hard for radar6) to pick up.However,in 1999,an F-117,which also has a stealthy shape and materials,was blasted out of the sky over the Balkans.Stealth technology is hardly a sham.It shrinks the radar“signature”of a plane.If a conventional aircraft makes a blip on radar screens at 200kilometers,a stealthy plane wouldn’ t appear until it was 34km away.The point is,radar does eventually detect the plane.Weather can also present a problem.The B-2’s materials were tested at Edwards Air Force Base,where it rarely rains.But when the high-tech bombers got drenched7) during missions in the Balkans,the tape used to fill seams in the composite skin often came loose.That en larges the radar signature.
□by Stan Crock
高科技神話:隱形航空電子技術
諾思羅普-格魯曼公司在自己的網站上吹噓說,“精靈”B-2隱形轟炸機幾乎是看不見的,因為該機的復合材料和蝙蝠形狀的設計使其難以被雷達發(fā)現。然而以相同形狀和材料制造的一架F-117戰(zhàn)斗機卻于1999年在巴爾干半島上空被擊落。隱形技術絕不是假的。它能縮小飛機在雷達屏幕上的信號特征。假如普通飛機在200公里以外時在雷達屏幕上形成一個光點,那么隱形飛機要到34公里時才會在雷達屏幕上顯現。問題是,雷達最終還是會發(fā)現飛機。天氣也會帶來問題。對B -2材料的測試工作是在很少下雨的愛德華茲空軍基地開展的。但當該機在巴爾干半島執(zhí)行任務時,遭到雨淋后,用于填充復合材料外殼接縫的膠帶往往會松脫,從而擴大了飛機的雷達信號特征。
NOTE 注釋:
1. vaunted [vC:ntid] 自夸的,吹噓的
2. stealth [stelW] n. 秘密行動
3. avionics [7eivi5Cniks] n. 航空電子技術
4. boast [bEust] v. 自夸,自吹
5. bomber [5bCmE] n. 轟炸機, 轟炸員
6. radar [5reidE] n. 雷達, 電波探測器
7. drenched [drentFt] adj.濕透的