【12月14日】看軍聞學英語

■刀客

原文：

To compete with China's plans to be a first-rate military power by 2049, the U.S. must grow its fleet to more than 500 ships by 2045, and more than 355 ships by the mid-2030s, Secretary of Defense Esper announced, confirming news reported last month by Defense News.

To get there, Esper said the Navy must prioritize above all else rapidly building up an attack submarine force of between 70 and 80 ships, up from its current force of 51. The Navy must also rethink how it uses carriers, proposing cutting up to four from the force structure while potentially repurposing the America-class amphibious assault ships as light carriers to hold down presence missions.

中譯：

美國國防部長艾斯培宣布，中共計畫於2049年成為第一等軍事強權，美國為了與之匹敵，艦隊規模必須在2045年擴大到超過500艘艦艇，而2035年則要超過355艘艦艇，此論調證實了《美國國防新聞週刊》上個月的新聞報導。

艾斯培認為，為達上述目標，海軍就必須將快速增加攻擊潛艦兵力列為首要選項，從現有的51艘提升到70至80艘，亦須重新思考如何運用航艦，預劃將其兵力結構縮減為4艘，同時思考將美國級兩棲攻擊艦改用為輕型航艦之可能，以維持住當前任務之運作。

─關鍵軍語─

※amphibious assault ship:

A type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault.

※force structure:

The combat-capable part of a military organization.

例句：

The adaptability of any force's force structure is usually tested in wartime to reflect changing nature of warfare.

通常在戰時才能測試出部隊兵力結構能否肆應戰爭的恆變本質。