????過(guò)去，要從頭研制一架全新的先進(jìn)戰(zhàn)機(jī)只有一種方式：依靠納稅人上繳的數(shù)億（甚至數(shù)十億）美元，軍方會(huì)首先探討這種戰(zhàn)機(jī)的最新技術(shù)要求，請(qǐng)數(shù)家航空領(lǐng)域的承包商進(jìn)行投標(biāo)，搞個(gè)數(shù)輪設(shè)計(jì)評(píng)審，拋出一份研發(fā)合同，隨后就只能祈禱樣機(jī)試制和生產(chǎn)過(guò)程中的延遲不需要再在已經(jīng)花掉的數(shù)億美元基礎(chǔ)上追加上千萬(wàn)美元。比如F-35聯(lián)合攻擊戰(zhàn)機(jī)就是如此。

????但賽斯納公司（Cessna）的母公司德士隆集團(tuán)（Textron）卻大膽下注，另辟了一種開發(fā)方式：首先是了解全球各國(guó)空軍的即時(shí)需求，再用現(xiàn)成的零部件打造一架造價(jià)便宜得多的戰(zhàn)機(jī)，最后低價(jià)把這種配置縮減的低成本飛機(jī)賣給囊中羞澀的軍方。

????上周，由德士隆集團(tuán)和AirLand Enterprises（這是一家主要由國(guó)防部退休高官組成的投資集團(tuán)）共同為一架雙引擎噴氣式戰(zhàn)機(jī)揭幕。這架戰(zhàn)機(jī)經(jīng)過(guò)特別設(shè)計(jì)，旨在降低精密度和技術(shù)復(fù)雜度。更重要的是，它要比現(xiàn)役任何現(xiàn)代戰(zhàn)機(jī)的購(gòu)置成本和飛行成本都更便宜。

????德士隆集團(tuán)總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官斯科特?唐納利談及這架名為“天蝎座”的全新戰(zhàn)機(jī)的設(shè)計(jì)時(shí)說(shuō)：“它能夠在威脅度較低的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)及國(guó)土安全領(lǐng)域執(zhí)行任務(wù)。它是世界上最實(shí)惠的戰(zhàn)術(shù)噴氣戰(zhàn)機(jī)?！?/p>

????德士隆在上周于馬里蘭州國(guó)家灣區(qū)（National Harbor）舉行的空軍協(xié)會(huì)（Air Force Association）年度“航空航天大會(huì)”上正式發(fā)布這款飛機(jī)前發(fā)表聲明中稱：“天蝎座旨在適應(yīng)美國(guó)國(guó)防部和美國(guó)伙伴國(guó)日益緊縮的預(yù)算限制，”不過(guò)它的用途可遠(yuǎn)不止于此。這架雙人座輕型攻擊機(jī)恰好填補(bǔ)了戰(zhàn)機(jī)市場(chǎng)一個(gè)重要的空白區(qū)，即在全球性能最好的渦輪螺旋槳飛機(jī)和精密尖端的噴氣戰(zhàn)機(jī)之間的細(xì)分市場(chǎng)。多年來(lái)，全球軍用戰(zhàn)機(jī)生產(chǎn)商一直不太重視這個(gè)市場(chǎng)。

????盡管對(duì)潛入敵方領(lǐng)空或與先進(jìn)的敵方戰(zhàn)機(jī)近身格斗來(lái)說(shuō)，像美國(guó)的F-22“猛禽”（Raptor）這樣先進(jìn)的超音速隱形戰(zhàn)機(jī)和即將服役的聯(lián)合攻擊戰(zhàn)機(jī)F-35不可或缺，但絕大多數(shù)空軍——包括美國(guó)空軍和空軍國(guó)民警衛(wèi)隊(duì)（Air National Guard）——多數(shù)飛行時(shí)間執(zhí)行的都是普通任務(wù)。例行空中巡邏、飛行訓(xùn)練、ISR任務(wù)（即收集情報(bào)、監(jiān)視及偵察）及空中攔截（空中禁區(qū)及類似區(qū)域的防御）都比空中格斗要多得多。

????目前，美國(guó)及其他家底殷實(shí)的軍事大國(guó)都是用自己的高端戰(zhàn)機(jī)來(lái)完成這些日常任務(wù)。那些手頭吃緊的軍隊(duì)則常常購(gòu)買高端渦輪螺旋槳飛機(jī)來(lái)執(zhí)行ISR及其他飛行任務(wù)，而許多國(guó)家都會(huì)避免擁有一支純粹由昂貴的噴氣戰(zhàn)機(jī)組成的機(jī)隊(duì)。

????但在各國(guó)財(cái)政普遍緊張的時(shí)期，上述情況都不是真正經(jīng)濟(jì)的方案。對(duì)需要負(fù)載大量裝備才能執(zhí)行現(xiàn)代監(jiān)視和偵察的ISR任務(wù)來(lái)說(shuō)，渦輪螺旋槳飛機(jī)并不是很適合，而美國(guó)空軍現(xiàn)役的F-15和F-16戰(zhàn)機(jī)（或其他國(guó)家與之同級(jí)的戰(zhàn)機(jī)）則都是高度精密的空中防御平臺(tái)——對(duì)于執(zhí)行這些日常任務(wù)來(lái)說(shuō)實(shí)在是殺雞用牛刀。不管是執(zhí)行戰(zhàn)斗任務(wù)還是日常巡邏，F(xiàn)-16每飛行小時(shí)都需花費(fèi)約25,000美元，而今后服役的F-35可能費(fèi)用還要高得多。

????德士隆正是從這些地方發(fā)現(xiàn)了像“天蝎座”這類戰(zhàn)機(jī)的價(jià)值所在，它比渦輪螺旋槳飛機(jī)功能更強(qiáng)大，同時(shí)又比頂級(jí)戰(zhàn)機(jī)更便宜。這種飛機(jī)每飛行小時(shí)的花費(fèi)約為3,000美元，只是F-16執(zhí)行例行任務(wù)所需成本的一個(gè)零頭。盡管德士隆-AirLand還未公布這架飛機(jī)的定價(jià)，但德士隆發(fā)言人大衛(wèi)?西爾維斯特表示，它的單位成本將比傳統(tǒng)戰(zhàn)機(jī)要“便宜好幾倍”。

????There used to be one way to build a brand new, state-of-the-art fighter jet from scratch. Backed by millions (if not billions) of taxpayer dollars, a military would debate the potential jets' cutting-edge technology requirements, entertain bids from various aerospace contractors, perform multiple design reviews, award a development contract, and then hope that delays in the prototyping and production phases didn't pile tens of millions more in costs atop the hundreds of millions (if not billions) already spent. See: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

????But Cessna parent company Textron (TXT) is betting big on a second way: Look at the immediate needs of air forces around the world, build a far less expensive jet aircraft from off-the-shelf components, and offer this pared-down, low-cost fighter to cash-strapped militaries on the cheap.

????Last week a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises (an investor group made up largely of retired defense officials) unveiled a dual-engine jet fighter designed specifically to be less sophisticated, less technologically complex, and -- most importantly -- less expensive to buy and fly than any modern jet fighter in service today. "Capable of performing lower-threat battlefield and homeland security missions," Textron chairman and chief executive Scott Donnelly says of the clean-sheet fighter design known as the Scorpion, it's "the world's most affordable tactical jet aircraft."

????"The Scorpion is designed to accommodate the increasingly stringent budget constraints of the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. partner nations," Textron said in a statement prior to the official unveiling of the aircraft last week at the Air Force Association's annual Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., but that's not all it accommodates. The two-seat light attack plane addresses a key gap in the combat jet marketplace, one situated between the world's best-performing turboprops and its sophisticated fighter jets and one that has gone underserved by the world's fighter-manufacturing military powers for decades.

????While sophisticated, supersonic stealth fighters like the American F-22 Raptor and the upcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are crucial for penetrating enemy airspace or engaging in strikes against a technologically sophisticated foe, most air forces -- including the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard -- spend most of their flight hours performing more mundane tasks. Routine air patrols, training flights, ISR missions (that's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and air intercept (defense of restricted airspace and the like) are far more common than combat sorties.

????Currently, the U.S. and other well-heeled military powers use their high-end fighter jets to fly these routine missions. Less affluent militaries often buy high-end turboprop aircraft to conduct ISR and other flights, and many eschew owning a fleet of expensive jet fighters altogether.

????But in tight fiscal times neither of these scenarios is a truly economical solution. Turboprops aren't well-suited to the heavy ISR payloads necessary to conduct modern surveillance and recon missions, and the F-15s and F-16s the Air Force uses (or their foreign counterparts) are highly sophisticated aerial defense platforms -- overkill for these kinds of routine tasks. F-16s cost roughly $25,000 per flight hour to operate whether in a combat role or in a routine airspace patrol, and the F-35s of the future fleet could cost significantly more.

????That's where Textron sees value in an aircraft like the Scorpion that's more capable than a turboprop and less costly than a top-of-the-line fighter jet model. With an estimated cost-per-flight-hour of roughly $3,000, the jet would consume a fraction of the operating cost of an F-16 for routine missions. And while Textron-AirLand hasn't released pricing information yet, the per-unit cost is expected to be "multiple times less per copy" than a traditional jet, says Textron spokesman David Sylvestre.