The march of technology
Jun 8th 2006
From The Economist print edition
Military equipment: Researchers are devising new ways to turn soldiers into cyborg-like, high-tech fighting machines
技术的推动
军事装备：研究人员正在开拓把士兵变成电子人（译注1）般的高技术作战机器的新途径。
STEALTH bombers, giant aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are the modern
symbols of military might, but they are of limited use in today's “asymmetric” conflicts. The old certainties of the cold war have given way to messy urban-guerrilla operations in Iraq, Somalia and Liberia, search-and-destroy missions in Afghanistan and the Sudan, and peacekeeping operations in many parts of the world. This has shifted the emphasis away from expensive weapons systems and back towards individual soldiers. As a result, programmes to develop new “solder-centric” technologies have been launched in America, Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries.
隐形轰炸机、巨大的航空母舰和核动力潜艇是军事力量的现代象征，但是在今天的“非对称战争”（译注2）中很少需要用到它们。冷战时代的旧战争模式已经让位于伊拉克、索马里和利比里亚的混乱的城市游击战；阿富汗和苏丹的搜索并摧毁任务；以及在世界许多地方进行的维持和平行动。这就把战争的中心从昂贵的武器系统转回到士兵本身。因此，美国、英国、德国、意大利和其他国家都已经开始开发“士兵为中心”的新军事技术。
“Right now, we aren't losing any submarines or aircraft carriers,” says Edwin Thomas, the head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. “So, spending money on protecting soldiers is really the right thing to be doing.”
“现在我们损失的不是潜艇或者航空母舰，”麻省理工大学士兵纳米技术研究所（译注3），材料科学与工程部门的主管Edwin Thomas说，“所以，把钱花在保护士兵上面才是真正应该做的。”
Modern soldiers are hardly short of technological gizmos. Over the years they have been weighed down with all kinds of gadgets, in addition to their usual weapons, equipment and provisions. A survey of American soldiers—the first conducted in 40 years—found that an infantryman typically carries around 120 pounds, or 55kg, on his back. “If I were to put 120 pounds of kit on you with a weapons system, and then tell you, ‘Okay, now I am going to shoot at you, and you're going to shoot these targets,' you would understand how truly difficult it is not only to accomplish your mission, but to just stay alive,” says Jean-Louis “Dutch” DeGay of the American army's Future Force Warrior (FFW) programme, a $250m effort to devise military technologies for deployment starting in 2010.
现代士兵其实从不缺少各种高科技的装备。长期以来他们被各种器械以及通常的武器、装备和给养等所累。一次针对美国士兵的调查——40年来第一次——显示一名步兵通常要背负120磅，合55公斤的装备。“如果我把120磅包括武器系统的装备安到你身上，然后告诉你，‘好，现在我向你射击，而你向这些目标射击，’你就会明白，不只是完成你的任务，就算是活下来都是一件很难的事情，”美国陆军未来战士计划（FFW）的装备专家让-路易•达奇•德盖(Jean-Louis “Dutch” DeGay）说，这一耗资2亿5千万美元的计划致力于开发相关军用装备技术并准备在2010年开始部署。
Individually, each radio, satellite-positioning unit or night-vision system works well; the problem is that these separate devices do not work smoothly together. So the aim of the FFW programme, and of similar efforts such as Britain's Future Infantry Soldier Technology project, Germany's Projekthaus System Soldat and Italy's Soldato Futuro initiative is to integrate all of these technologies to create a seamless partnership with the soldier. The result, if it works, will be to transform each soldier into a kind of part-human, part-machine cyborg—“an F-16 on legs”, as Mr DeGay puts it. The best way to think of the soldier of the future, he says, is “as an integrated, mobile weapons system, like a Bradley fighting vehicle or an Abrams tank.”
电台、卫星定位设备或者夜视设备单独工作时都很正常；问题是这些分散的设备在一起工作时效果就不那么好了。所以，FFW计划的目的，同时也是英国的未来步兵士兵技术（译注4），德国的士兵系统项目（译注5）以及意大利的未来士兵计划的目标，就是要整合所有这些技术以创造与士兵之间的无缝化配合关系。结果就是，如果它有效，将会把每个士兵变成一种半人半机器的电子人——如DeGay所说，“一个长腿的F-16”。他说，对于未来士兵最好的想法是“像一个整合的移动武器系统，像一辆布莱德利步兵战车（Bradley fighting vehicle）或者一辆艾布拉布斯坦克（Abrams tank）。”
This means rethinking every aspect of a soldier's equipment. “We have stripped the soldier down to the skin,” says Mr DeGay. In future, that skin will be clothed in a uniform made up of three layers. Closest to the skin will be a layer of clothing, embedded with sensors that can detect whether the wearer is injured, dehydrated, exhausted or even asleep. In the event of injury, vital signs can be measured to assess the soldier's medical condition, and this information, plus the soldier's exact location, can be transmitted to a medical team, so that it knows what to expect and can act quickly when it arrives.
这意味着士兵装备的每个方面都要重新构思设计。 “我们将把士兵皮肤以上的一切都纳入我们的考虑范围，”DeGay先生说。在未来，士兵的皮肤将覆上三层材料打造的制服。最贴近皮肤的那层衣服将嵌入可以感知穿着者是否受伤、脱水、疲劳甚至困倦的感应器。遇到受伤的情况，制服可以采集士兵的生命体征以评定士兵的健康状况，而且这些信息以及士兵的确切位置会被传送到医疗队，这样医疗队就可以事先知道伤员的状况并在伤员送到的第一时间采取行动。
The second layer consists of “electro-textiles” that provide power and data connections to these sensors, and to the various other devices being carried by the soldier. Radio antennae can also be incorporated into this layer. Finally, the third and topmost layer consists of a new kind of armour. Existing armour stops bullets, says Mr DeGay, but it is heavy, and its snug fit means that the impact of a bullet can still cause broken bones or internal injuries. The new armour, which will be battle-tested this summer, is based upon flexible Kevlar plates positioned a few centimetres above the skin. This means the plates are better able to absorb and distribute the impact of an incoming round—and also makes the uniform cooler to wear.
制服的第二层包含有“电子织物”（译注7），它可以提供能源并与传感器以及士兵携带的其它设备进行数据连接。电台天线也可以被置入这一层。最后，第三层也是最外面的一层则含有一种新装甲。DeGay先生说，现有的装甲能够抵挡子弹，但它太过于沉重，而它的贴身性则意味着子弹的冲击仍然可能造成骨折或内伤。这种将于今年夏天进行战斗测试的新装甲，则设计成位于皮肤以上几厘米的有弹性的凯夫拉金属板。这意味着这些金属板可以更好的吸收和传导外来的冲击，并且使作战服穿着时更加凉爽。
Although this new uniform integrates the various devices carried by an individual soldier, the next step is to connect the soldiers themselves, so that they can exchange information and function smoothly as a unit. That, says Mr DeGay, requires turning every soldier into a living, breathing, fighting internet node, linked to every other soldier and vehicle at all times. “We affectionately call this the Borg effect—everyone is part of the collective,” he says, referring to the race of cyborgs from “Star Trek”.
新的作战服整合了单兵携带的各种设备，而下一步就是要连接各个士兵单元，让他们可以像一个整体一样交换信息和进行行动。那就要求把每个士兵变成一个活的、呼吸的、能作战的网络节点，任何时候都与所有其他的士兵和车辆相连接，DeGay先生说。“我们昵称它为博格效应（译注8）——每个人都是团体的一部分，”他说，这是源于《星际迷航》中的电子人种族。
A centrepiece of this effort is a helmet with a Borg-like eyepiece. It displays an image that appears to hover in space in the wearer's field of vision, like a 19-inch television at arm's length. This will make it possible to deliver battlefield information to soldiers from other sources, in effect extending their senses. If a squad is moving through the desert, for example, a drone aircraft might fly ahead of the soldiers and send back pictures of enemy troops lying in wait. Similarly, the display can act as a digital map and compass, can show the positions of other soldiers nearby, and might even show real-time video from elsewhere on the battlefield—all of which adds up to “expanded situational awareness”, as it is known. “We always talk about firepower being the true power, but knowledge is the true power,” says Mr DeGay.
这一功能的一个核心部件就是一顶有博格人般的镜片的头盔。它可以在穿戴者的眼前显示出图像，这些图像有如浮现在空气中，就像在一臂距离外放置的一台19寸电视。这将使得士兵从其他来源获得信息成为可能，从而拓展他们的感知。举例来说，如果一个小队正在沙漠中前进，一架无人机会飞在士兵们前面，向他们发来隐蔽着等待他们的敌军部队的图片。与此类似，显示器还可以当作电子地图、指南针，可以显示附近其他士兵的位置也可以实时显示战场其他地方的影像——所有这些都是所谓“延伸情境意识”的一部分。“我们总是说火力是真正的力量，其实智力才是真正的力量。”DeGay说。
And these technologies are just the start. The Future Warrior Concept, a part of the FFW programme that is intended to imagine the military technologies of 2025, envisages a helmet, similar to a motorcycle helmet, with a 180-degree display, armour with built-in heating and cooling systems, and an array of sensors to extend the soldier's senses still further. All of this is wrapped up in a futuristic black uniform.
而这些技术都只是一个开始。未来战士概念，是FFW计划的一部分，这一计划试图描绘2025年的军事科技，构想中有一顶类似于摩托车头盔的作战头盔，拥有180度的显示角度，有内置的加温和冷却系统的盔甲，以及一个可以更大限度拓展士兵感知能力的传感器阵列。所有这些组成了一件充满未来感的黑色作战服
While the FFW programme is the flagship of America's efforts to revamp tomorrow's soldier, it is not the only such programme. The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, an American military research organisation, is funding the development of exoskeletons, for example, that use external hydraulics and pneumatic systems to endow soldiers with superhuman strength—though such systems are still far too bulky and power-hungry for battlefield use. Another approach, being pursued at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is to use nanotechnology. Dr Thomas's five-year, $50m project is developing smart fabrics for use in “battlesuits”—second skins that can make soldiers stronger and less vulnerable. One smart fabric generates energy from sunlight; another contracts like an artificial muscle when a voltage is applied.
虽然FFW计划是美国改进未来士兵的努力中的旗舰，但它不是此类计划中唯一的一个。国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）,美国的一个军事研究机构，正在资助外骨骼的研发，比如借助外在的液压和气动系统赋予士兵超人的力量，虽然这样的系统现在对于战场应用而言还过于庞大，且需要太多的能量。另一方面，麻省理工正在从事纳米技术方面的研究。托马斯博士历时5年耗资5000万美元的项目正在开发用于“战斗服”的智能织物——可以使士兵更强壮更不易受伤的第二皮肤。一种智能织物通过太阳能取得能量；另一种在通电后能像人造肌肉那样收缩。
Other advanced technologies are under development at SRI International, an independent research institute based in Menlo Park, California. These include a system to locate snipers, which relies on sound sensors wired into the clothing of troops in the vicinity. These pick up the sound of the sniper's weapon being fired, and acoustic analysis then determines the sniper's position, says Scott Seaton of SRI's Engineering and Systems Division. Also under development is a system that uses SRI's PenRad penetrating-radar technology to allow soldiers to see inside a building before entering it.
其他的先进技术正在位于加州门罗公园市（Menlo Park, California）的独立研究机构斯坦福国际咨询研究所（译注9）进行开发。这其中包括一个可以通过植入附近部队士兵服装中的传感器找到狙击手的系统。据斯坦福国际咨询研究所工程与系统部门的Scott Seaton称，这些传感器能采集狙击手的武器射击时发出的声音，进行音响分析然后确定狙击手的位置。另一种正在开发的技术应用斯坦福研究所的PenRad透视雷达技术，让士兵在进入一栋建筑前就能看到里面的情况。
Technological overkill?
技术的超杀？（译注10）
But will soldiers be able to handle all this technology and the torrent of data it will provide—or will it add to the chaos of war? The aim of “human-systems engineering”, says Mr DeGay, is not to bury troops in data, but to act as amplifiers for the mind, body and senses. “We're trying to avoid paralysis by analysis,” says Mr Seaton. “When the shooting starts, you don't want to be looking at your computer. You need to being paying attention to what is going on around you.
不过，士兵们真的能应付得了所有这些技术和它将提供的海量信息吗——或者说它会不会使战争变得更加混乱？DeGay说“人力资源系统”的目标不是把士兵淹没在数据的海洋里，而是让它成为士兵思想、身体和感觉的放大器。“我们正在努力避免分析造成的瘫痪，”Seaton先生说，“当交火开始的时候你是不想再盯着自己的电脑的。你需要将精力集中于周围正在发生的事情上。”
Yet when it comes to making soldiers more machine-like, says Colonel Kip Nygren, head of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the Military Academy at West Point, there ought to be more discussion about where to draw the line. “We have become our technology,” he says. “It's something we need to talk about—we are moving really rapidly ahead technologically, but politically we need to have these discussions.”
当然，当面临使士兵更加像机械的问题时，需要更多的讨论（机械化的）限度，西点军校土木与机械工程系的Kip Nygren上校说。“我们已经成为了自己技术的一部分，”他说，“这是需要我们讨论的——在技术上我们走的真的很快，不过在政治上我们需要讨论一下这方面可能产生的问题。”
If the technology really does work as advertised, however, might it eventually do away with the need for human soldiers altogether—and allow them to be replaced by robots? The first steps have already been taken: drone aircraft have already been used to fire missiles. But for the foreseeable future, people will still do the killing on the ground. “Humans have got to be in the loop,” says Dr Thomas. “It is probably going to be necessary for the next 20 years, maybe 100.” The technology of warfare may be more elaborate than ever, but the soldier of the future will still be a man, not a machine.
不过，如果技术真的像介绍的那样有效，会不会使它走得更远，从而使得我们完全不再需要人类士兵而允许他们被机器人所取代？我们已经走出了第一步：无人驾驶飞机已经用于发射导弹了。不过在可见的未来在地面上仍将由人来从事杀戮。“人类必须要被包含在其中”托马斯博士说，“这可能在未来的20甚至可能100年内都是有必要的。”战争技术可能会比以前更加的精巧，但是未来的战士将仍然是人而不是机器。
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