美国的七件“国防神器”

MQ-8C“火力侦察兵”无人直升机

    能从航空母舰上起降的无人喷气式战斗机可能还需要几年才能面世，不过美国海军现在已经列装了第一批舰载无人直升机，而且第五批战机已经部署在阿富汗和非洲等地（其中一架于2011年在利比亚内战中执行执勤和侦察任务时被击落）。美国海军目前拥有约30架MQ-8B“火力侦察兵”无人侦察机，这款半自动的无人机只有24英尺长，目前没有装配武器，主要在全球执行情报、执勤、侦察任务。

    在本次海空天博览会上，诺斯罗普格曼公司发布了下一代“火力侦察兵”系列的原型机模型，也就是所谓的MQ-8C。它的尺寸几乎达到MQ-8B的一倍（它的机身借鉴自Bell 407民用直升机，后者的某些改款能容纳７名乘客）。MQ-8C代表了未来战术无人直升机的发展方向。对于正计划把“火力侦察兵”与下一代濒海战斗舰进行整合的美国海军来说（事实上，美国最新的濒海战斗舰多多少少都要依赖一种可以垂直起降的战机），MQ-8C在保持战斗力的同时，也有望降低长期成本。

    诺斯罗普格曼公司的战术无人系统业务开发部总监麦克•富科表示：“从负担能力的角度看，无人机是一个非常好的选择。”虽然无人机也需要军舰上配备一个维护和操作团队，但像“火力侦察兵”这样的系统与有人直升机相比，其重量一般更轻，燃油经济性也更好，可以腾出更多空间搭载更好、更精密的传感装置，可以根据现有商用零件进行生产（如Bell 407民用直升机），而且从战术上更不容易被击落。如果２０１１年在利比亚被击落的那架侦察机是有人飞机，那么相应的成本可能会极高，甚至可能包括付出人的生命，而人命的价值是无法估算的。光是由于这个原因，“火力侦察兵”的价值虽然不算便宜（到２０１２年底，该项目共花去２８亿美元），但仍然可能会继续获得美国海军的支持。”

MQ-8C Fire Scout

    The Navy's first aircraft carrier-capable unmanned fighter jet is still several years away, but its first carrier-launched helicopter is already in service and on its fifth deployment in places like Afghanistan and Africa (one was even shot down over Libya in 2011 while conducting surveillance and reconnaissance during the civil war there). The Navy currently owns roughly 30 of these little 24-foot-long unmanned, semi-autonomous helicopters, known as the MQ-8B Fire Scout, which it currently uses as non-weaponized, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms around the world.

    At Sea-Air-Space, Northrop Grumman unveiled the first scale model of the next iteration in the Fire Scout series, the MQ-8C. At nearly twice the size of its predecessor (its airframe is borrowed from the Bell 407 civilian helicopter, which in some variations can seat seven passengers), the MQ-8C is a real glimpse at the future of unmanned tactical helicopter flight. And for the Navy, which plans to integrate its Fire Scouts into its next generation of combat ships (in fact, its new Littoral Combat Ships more or less depend on an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing vehicle), the MQ-8C is also a way of maintaining a capability while hopefully driving down long-term costs.

    "UAVs have a really good story from an affordability perspective," says Mike Fuqua, director of business development for Northrop Grumman's tactical unmanned systems. While they do require a shipboard maintenance team and operating crew, systems like Fire Scout are generally lighter and more fuel-efficient than manned helicopters, can devote more space to better and more complex sensor payloads, can be constructed from existing commercial components (like that Bell 407 airframe), and are tactically less vulnerable to boot. Had a manned ISR aircraft been shot down over Libya in 2011, the associated costs could've been extremely high -- up to and including the incalculable cost of human life. For this reason alone, the Fire Scout, though not inexpensive (total program cost stood at $2.8 billion as of the end of 2012), will likely continue to receive Navy support.