Teeny-Tiny Drone Fires Teeny-Tiny Missile (Gulp)
By Spencer Ackerman
May 20, 2011
Translation by Autumnson Blog
美國佛羅里達州坦帕 - 別讓它說小就不強大。一間北加州的公司剛剛建成突擊部隊，也許是可以殺死你的最小無人駕駛飛機。強調一點，它甚至畫上偽裝，像在第一滴血的史泰龍。
The Arcturus company built its eponymous drone as the unmanned aerial equivalent of a compact car. Its wingspan is just over 17 feet, making it slightly smaller than the Army and Marine Corps’ Shadow drone. Arcturus is “primarily” a spy plane, says engineer Eric Folkestad. Emphasis on “primarily.”
大角星公司建立它以自己名字得名的無人機，作為相當於一架緊湊型轎車的無人機。它的翼展剛過 17英尺，使其略小於陸軍和海軍陸戰隊的影子無人機。大角星“主要”是一架間諜飛機，工程師埃里克Folkestad說，強調在“初始。”
Because the life-size Arcturus on display at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference here has a conspicuous add-on under its left wing. That’s a Saber, a 10-pound laser-guided missile (.pdf) manufactured by MBDA. In tests, Arcturus discovered that the wings of its drone can carry 22 pounds’ worth of cargo, making it a candidate to wield MBDA’s missiles. “No one else can do that in our size category,” Folkestad says.
由於真人大小的大角星展出在這裡的特種作戰部隊工業會議，在其左翼下有一項明顯的附加，那是一把軍刀 - 一件由MBDA公司生產的 10磅重的激光制導導彈（.PDF格式）。在測試中，大角星發現它的無人機翼能攜帶 22磅重的貨物，使它成為一個候選人來使用 MBDA公司的導彈。 “在我們這樣規模的類別沒有其它人能做到這，”Folkestad說。
Not for lack of trying. For years, both the Army and Marine Corps have tried to weaponize the Shadow, an attempt to make it the pint-sized Salacious Crumb to the Jabba the Hutt of drones, the Hellfire-armed Predator. If it works, a battalion commander won’t have to call headquarters for unmanned air support. He’ll have the air support himself.
不是缺乏努力，多年來陸軍和海軍陸戰隊兩者已曾試圖武器化影子，試圖使它成為一品脫大小的無人駕駛飛機，地獄火武裝的捕食者。如果成功，營長不用打電話給總部要求無人駕駛的空中支援，他將有他自己的空中支援。
So far, though, armed drones of this size haven’t made it out of the testing stage. And that includes the Arcturus.
雖然到目前為止，這種規模的武裝無人駕駛飛機並沒有完成它的測試階段，而這包括大角星。
Folkestad says his company has shipped 12 of the drones to the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force in the past 18 months. They’re still in evaluation. But if it gets the thumbs up, then ever-smaller units will command their own flying killer robots, another step in the proliferation of drone warfare.
Unlike the other “tier-2 class” drones, Arcturus is intended primarily for commandos. Like the Shadow, it’s launched from a pneumatic catapult, and doesn’t need a runway to land. Unlike a Shadow, the Arcturus is a modular design: The wings and the tail snap off of the 100-pound plane for portability by small special-operations detachments behind enemy lines.
Hence the camouflage. The camo might look a little silly when the Arcturus is up at its max height of 15,000 feet. But that missile is no laughing matter.
If that sounds a little callous, consider this: Arcturus shares its company name with a fantastically dark Norwegian black metal band. Folkestad doesn’t need reminding: “You Google us; you get them.”
Photo: Spencer Ackerman
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/teeny-tiny-drone-fires-teeny-tiny-missile-gulp/
新的隱藏導彈系統連聯邦調查局也不知
英國無人駕駛機會巡邏倫敦奧運會
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