【4月26日】看軍聞學英語

■刀客

原文：

Known as the 'Bone', the B-1B began service with the USAF in 1985. The bomber was designed to fly at a minimum speed of Mach 0.85 and as low as 200ft, using terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radar, on penetrating nuclear strikes against the Soviet Union. Its low-altitude and nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight profile was intended to avoid detection by Soviet ground radar. However, the USSR's development of look-down, shoot-down radar made that mission perilous.

In 1994, with the Cold War over, the USAF eliminated the B-1B's nuclear mission. The bomber found new work with the start of the War on Terror in 2001, flying close air-support missions for the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. But those missions, which involved slow flying with wings forward–not swept, as intended for penetration strikes–overstressed the B-1B's wings, causing cracks.

中譯：

B-1B自1985年起於美國空軍服役，以「老骨頭」聞名。這款轟炸機專為最低航速0.85馬赫、最低高度200呎的飛行條件而設計，運用地形追蹤暨迴避雷達，對蘇聯進行滲透核子攻擊。這種低空掠地飛行姿態，旨在免遭蘇俄地面雷達偵測。然而，蘇聯所研發的俯視／俯射雷達，讓該機出勤風險大增。

隨著冷戰結束，美國空軍於1994年取消B-1B核任務。該機種於2001年反恐戰爭一開始，找到新的定位，即在伊拉克及阿富汗，執行美軍各項密接空中支援任務；惟執行這類任務，不同於滲透攻擊的後掠翼飛行，而是以前掠翼進行慢速飛行，致使機翼因過度受力而產生裂痕。

─關鍵軍語─

※nap-of-the-earth：

A type of very low-altitude flight course.

例句：

In nap-of-the-earth flight, a helicopter moves at less than treetop height.

執行掠地飛行時，直升機以低於樹稍的高度移動。