【5月30日】看軍聞學英語

■刀客

原文：

In November, Russia claimed the successful test of the 'Tsirkon' anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile. High-tech weapons are being regularly tested in the Arctic area, according to Russian officials quoted in state media and Western officials.

The Tsirkon and the Poseidon are part of a new generation of weapons pledged by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 as strategic game changers in a fast-changing world.

At the time US officials scorned the new weapons as technically far-fetched and improbable, yet they appear to be nearing fruition. The Norwegian intelligence chief Stensønes told CNN the Tsirkon as a ＇new technology, with hypersonic speeds, which makes it hard to defend against.＇

中譯：

俄國去年11月宣稱，「鋯石」極音速反艦巡弋飛彈試射成功。俄國官方媒體與西方國家官員均援引俄國官員的說詞，高科技武器定期會在北極地區進行測試。

俄國總統蒲亭於2018年信誓旦旦表示，「鋯石」與「海神」均屬新世代武器，在變化萬千的世局中，堪為扭轉局勢之戰略利器。

美國官員當時對該等新武器尚不屑一顧，咸認其技術牽強且無可信度，然則結果卻似已近成熟階段。挪威情報局長斯滕索斯告訴美國《有線電視新聞網》，「鋯石」為一具備極音速新科技武器，如此的速度會使之難以防禦。

─關鍵軍語─

※cruise missile:

A low-flying missile that is guided to its target by an on-board computer.

※far-fetched:

Implausible or exaggerated.

※hypersonic:

Relating to speeds of more than five times the speed of sound (5 Mach).

例句：

The Pentagon is pressing to catch up with rivals Moscow and Beijing in the race to develop hypersonics.

美國國防部正加緊趕上莫斯科及北京，在極音速發展競賽的步調。