????德士隆只要按照自己的、而不是國(guó)防部的生產(chǎn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)生產(chǎn)“天蝎座”就能成功地做到這一點(diǎn)。這意味著它將主要參照空軍飛機(jī)執(zhí)行日常任務(wù)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)制造。美國(guó)國(guó)防部并未要求生產(chǎn)更便宜的戰(zhàn)術(shù)戰(zhàn)機(jī)，其他國(guó)家的空軍也無(wú)此要求，但是自從認(rèn)識(shí)到市場(chǎng)有使用相對(duì)便宜的飛機(jī)替代頂級(jí)戰(zhàn)機(jī)的需求后，德士隆就開始在賽斯納公司運(yùn)用豐富的噴氣戰(zhàn)機(jī)知識(shí)打造一些部件符合軍需的戰(zhàn)機(jī)了——也就是機(jī)身、座艙儀器、彈射椅和玻璃座艙罩都要符合軍用標(biāo)準(zhǔn)——而其他部位則采用了現(xiàn)成的商用技術(shù)。

????這番努力的成果（至少在理論上是如此）就是這架性能出眾的漂亮小飛機(jī)，它的最高時(shí)速可達(dá)500英里，在執(zhí)行ISR或輕型戰(zhàn)斗這樣的低強(qiáng)度任務(wù)時(shí)一次升空可續(xù)航五小時(shí)。它的噴氣發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)由霍尼韋爾公司（Honeywell）提供（足以提供3000磅的ISR或武器載荷），航空電子巨頭科巴姆公司（Cobham）則為其提供久經(jīng)考驗(yàn)、性能可靠的座艙科技。

????所以，盡管“天蝎座”是一架全新設(shè)計(jì)的飛機(jī)，德士隆卻并沒(méi)有重新設(shè)計(jì)多數(shù)關(guān)鍵零部件。這不僅讓這家公司省下了巨額研發(fā)和制造費(fèi)用，還在沒(méi)有獲得任何政府資助的情況下僅用兩年時(shí)間就生產(chǎn)出這架全新的噴氣戰(zhàn)機(jī)——按照五角大樓常規(guī)的飛機(jī)采購(gòu)流程，這是根本不可能完成的任務(wù)。

????但是，美國(guó)空軍和國(guó)防部會(huì)有意采購(gòu)一架自己一開始并未要求定制、性能有所縮水的戰(zhàn)機(jī)嗎？這還有待觀察。但在上周國(guó)家灣區(qū)的空軍協(xié)會(huì)年度大會(huì)開幕致辭中，空軍代理秘書長(zhǎng)埃里克?范寧談到，未來(lái)數(shù)年，隨著美軍從延續(xù)十年之久的海外沖突中逐步抽調(diào)回國(guó)，空軍需要加強(qiáng)對(duì)“經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)惠并容易負(fù)擔(dān)的（戰(zhàn)機(jī)）”的關(guān)注。

????不管怎么說(shuō)，在全球各國(guó)軍方紛紛開始關(guān)注造價(jià)低廉的技術(shù)的情況下，美國(guó)國(guó)防部也只是一個(gè)客戶而已。本周二，德士隆發(fā)言人西爾維斯特在這屆大會(huì)上表示：“過(guò)去幾天里，到‘天蝎座’的展臺(tái)來(lái)參觀的人一直絡(luò)繹不絕?？哲妳f(xié)會(huì)不是光為美國(guó)空軍服務(wù)的，這屆大會(huì)有來(lái)自世界各地的空軍，其中有幾支已和我們進(jìn)行了初步洽談?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)?

????Textron can get away with this by building the Scorpion to its own specs rather than the DoD's, taking guidance from those more routine missions that eat up most of a military air wing's flight hours. The U.S. Department of Defense has not asked for a less-expensive tactical fighter jet; nor has any foreign air force, but recognizing this need for a less-expensive alternative to top-of-the-line fighters Textron has leveraged the extensive jet aircraft engineering know-how in its Cessna division to create an aircraft that is mil-spec where it needs to be -- in the airframe, in the cockpit instruments, in the ejector seat and glass canopy -- and that employs commercial off-the-shelf technologies elsewhere.

????The result (on paper anyhow) is a pretty capable little jet that tops 500 miles per hour at the high end and can stay aloft for five hours at a time on a range of low-intensity missions ranging from ISR to light combat or strike. Honeywell (HON) jet engines provide the thrust (as well as ample power for a 3,000-pound ISR or weapons payload), and avionics stalwart Cobham will provide tried and tested cockpit technology.

????So while Scorpion is a brand new, clean-sheet aircraft design, Textron isn't trying to reinvent most of the critical components of the aircraft. That's not only allowed the company to save tremendously on development and manufacturing costs, but to produce a wholly new fighter jet in just two years and without any government funding -- a tacit impossibility under the Pentagon's traditional aircraft procurement process.

????But will the U.S. Air Force and DoD be interested in purchasing a less-capable fighter jet that it didn't ask for in the first place? That remains to be seen, but in his remarks opening the AFA confab in National Harbor last week, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning spoke of the need to focus on what's "affordable and sustainable" in the coming years as forces draw down from a decade of overseas conflict.

????And anyhow, the U.S. Department of Defense is just one customer in a world full of militaries looking for technology on the cheap. "There's been very steady traffic in the Scorpion exhibit over the past few days," says Textron's Sylvestre, speaking from the Air Force Association convention on Tuesday, "AFA isn't just for the U.S. Air Force, there are Air Forces from all over the world here, and several have stopped by to talk about it."?