Smart ammunition
灵巧弹药
Left, right, on target
左，右，瞄准
Jun 13th 2012, 18:21 by T.C.
MILITARY snipers are competitive types. There is an ongoing and grisly contest between them to see who can kill an enemy soldier from the farthest distance away. The present record is held by Craig Harrison, a corporal in the British Army's Household Cavalry, who managed to kill two Taliban soldiers from 2,475 metres in November 2009. That was a slight improvement on the previous record, held by Rob Furlong, a Canadian soldier also fighting in Afghanistan, who managed to shoot his enemy in the chest from a distance of 2,473 metres in 2002.
军事狙击手是一个非常有竞争性的职业。他们之间持续着一场可怕的比赛，看谁能在最远的距离之外射杀敌军士兵。现在的记录被英国皇家骑兵团的克雷格•哈里森下士保持，他曾在2009年11月在2475米之外成功射杀两名塔利班士兵。他稍微刷新了先前加拿大士兵罗布‧福尔隆创造的记录，他也曾在阿富汗服役，2002年他在2473米之外成功击中敌人的胸口。
Such long-range killings are the exception rather than the norm, as long-distance shooting is extremely difficult. Snipers must guess at wind direction, atmospheric density, relative humidity and a host of other factors that affect a bullet's trajectory. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Corporal Harrison described the atmospheric conditions as perfect: "no wind, mild weather, clear visibility", but modestly neglected to mention the hundreds of hours of painstaking training that are required on top of that.
这种远距离射杀比标准射击更容易出现意外，因为远程射击极为困难。狙击手必须推测风向、大气密度、相对湿度以及影响弹道轨迹的其他一系列因素。在星期日泰晤士报的采访中，哈里森下士说当时的大气条件堪称完美：“没有风，天气温和，能见度很好”，但是他很谦虚，没有提到如果没有几百个小时的艰苦训练，他是做不到这一点的。
Now a protoype self-aiming bullet developed at Sandia National Laboratories, an American weapons-research lab in New Mexico, might allow any soldier to match such feats. Modern bullets gain their accuracy from a technique known as rifling, whereby the barrel of the gun that fires them has a series of spiralling grooves etched into it. These cause the bullets to spin, and that spins stabilises their flight path. Rifling offers a huge improvement over old-style smoothbore guns such as muskets, which were notoriously inaccurate at even comparatively short ranges.
现在位于美国新墨西哥州的桑迪亚国家实验室（一个武器研究实验室）研制出一种能自动瞄准的子弹模型，也许可以让任何士兵都能取得这样的功勋。现代子弹通过膛线技术获得精准度，在射出子弹的枪管中刻上一连串的螺旋纹，子弹会因此旋转，而旋转可以稳定子弹的飞行路线。膛线相对于老式的火枪有了巨大的改进，人们都知道毛瑟枪短距离的射击精度也不咋地。
Sandia's researchers, though, have plumped for an old-style smoothbore barrel. That is because, instead of spin, their bullet is stabilised by four steerable fins at its rear. Those fins are linked to a computer chip that is, in turn, linked to an optical sensor on the bullet's nose. A laser is shone at the intended target, the bullet is fired, and the chip uses the fins to adjust the bullet's trajectory in mid-flight, a system similar in principle to the one used on anti-aircraft missiles.
桑迪亚的研究人员选中一款老式滑膛枪管。它射出的子弹不能旋转，而是凭借后面四个操作尾翼稳定子弹的轨迹。这些尾翼连着计算机芯片，芯片依次连着感应子弹噪音的光学传感器。用一束激光照射预定目标，然后发射子弹。芯片用尾翼调节子弹的轨迹。这和防空导弹的原理相似。
The researchers say that computer simulations suggest that, at a range of half a mile, a typical unguided bullet would miss a target by an average margin of nine metres or so, but that their guided bullet could cut that to just 20 centimetres. And a quirk of ballistics means that, at longer ranges, the system's accuracy should get better. As it flies, the bullet pitches and yaws through the air, and that natural rhythym limits the frequency with which its on-board computer can make course corrections. But the longer the bullet is in flight, the less violent those movements become, allowing increasingly precise tracking.
研究人员说，根据计算机模拟试验建议，在半英里的射程内没有制导的普通子弹平均会在9米之内的区域丢失目标，然而有制导的子弹可以将这个范围降低到20厘米。在长距离射击时，弹道的每一次偏转就意味着系统需要更高的精确度。空气让飞行的子弹偏移目标而且自然节奏限制了它的频率，车载计算机可以修正它的弹道。但是子弹飞弹越远，它的杀伤力就会越低，这样以来就需要提高弹道的精度。
So far, the bullet is only a prototype, and Sandia (which is a government lab managed by Lockheed Martin, a giant American weapons firm) is looking to join forces with other firms to bring the bullet to market. If they are successful, Corporal Harrison's record may not stand for long.
目前这种子弹只是一个模型，桑迪亚（军火巨头洛克希德马丁经营的一个政府实验室）正在需找其他公司联手把它推向市场。如果他们能取得成功，哈里森下士的记录可能不会保持太久
军事狙击手是一个非常有竞争性的职业。他们之间持续着一场可怕的比赛，看谁能在最远的距离之外射杀敌军士兵。现在的记录被英国皇家骑兵团的克雷格•哈里森下士保持，他曾在2009年11月在2475米之外成功射杀两名塔利班士兵。他稍微刷新了先前加拿大士兵罗布‧福尔隆创造的记录，他也曾在阿富汗服役，2002年他在2473米之外成功击中敌人的胸口。
Such long-range killings are the exception rather than the norm, as long-distance shooting is extremely difficult. Snipers must guess at wind direction, atmospheric density, relative humidity and a host of other factors that affect a bullet's trajectory. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Corporal Harrison described the atmospheric conditions as perfect: "no wind, mild weather, clear visibility", but modestly neglected to mention the hundreds of hours of painstaking training that are required on top of that.
这种远距离射杀比标准射击更容易出现意外，因为远程射击极为困难。狙击手必须推测风向、大气密度、相对湿度以及影响弹道轨迹的其他一系列因素。在星期日泰晤士报的采访中，哈里森下士说当时的大气条件堪称完美：“没有风，天气温和，能见度很好”，但是他很谦虚，没有提到如果没有几百个小时的艰苦训练，他是做不到这一点的。
Now a protoype self-aiming bullet developed at Sandia National Laboratories, an American weapons-research lab in New Mexico, might allow any soldier to match such feats. Modern bullets gain their accuracy from a technique known as rifling, whereby the barrel of the gun that fires them has a series of spiralling grooves etched into it. These cause the bullets to spin, and that spins stabilises their flight path. Rifling offers a huge improvement over old-style smoothbore guns such as muskets, which were notoriously inaccurate at even comparatively short ranges.
现在位于美国新墨西哥州的桑迪亚国家实验室（一个武器研究实验室）研制出一种能自动瞄准的子弹模型，也许可以让任何士兵都能取得这样的功勋。现代子弹通过膛线技术获得精准度，在射出子弹的枪管中刻上一连串的螺旋纹，子弹会因此旋转，而旋转可以稳定子弹的飞行路线。膛线相对于老式的火枪有了巨大的改进，人们都知道毛瑟枪短距离的射击精度也不咋地。
Sandia's researchers, though, have plumped for an old-style smoothbore barrel. That is because, instead of spin, their bullet is stabilised by four steerable fins at its rear. Those fins are linked to a computer chip that is, in turn, linked to an optical sensor on the bullet's nose. A laser is shone at the intended target, the bullet is fired, and the chip uses the fins to adjust the bullet's trajectory in mid-flight, a system similar in principle to the one used on anti-aircraft missiles.
桑迪亚的研究人员选中一款老式滑膛枪管。它射出的子弹不能旋转，而是凭借后面四个操作尾翼稳定子弹的轨迹。这些尾翼连着计算机芯片，芯片依次连着感应子弹噪音的光学传感器。用一束激光照射预定目标，然后发射子弹。芯片用尾翼调节子弹的轨迹。这和防空导弹的原理相似。
The researchers say that computer simulations suggest that, at a range of half a mile, a typical unguided bullet would miss a target by an average margin of nine metres or so, but that their guided bullet could cut that to just 20 centimetres. And a quirk of ballistics means that, at longer ranges, the system's accuracy should get better. As it flies, the bullet pitches and yaws through the air, and that natural rhythym limits the frequency with which its on-board computer can make course corrections. But the longer the bullet is in flight, the less violent those movements become, allowing increasingly precise tracking.
研究人员说，根据计算机模拟试验建议，在半英里的射程内没有制导的普通子弹平均会在9米之内的区域丢失目标，然而有制导的子弹可以将这个范围降低到20厘米。在长距离射击时，弹道的每一次偏转就意味着系统需要更高的精确度。空气让飞行的子弹偏移目标而且自然节奏限制了它的频率，车载计算机可以修正它的弹道。但是子弹飞弹越远，它的杀伤力就会越低，这样以来就需要提高弹道的精度。
So far, the bullet is only a prototype, and Sandia (which is a government lab managed by Lockheed Martin, a giant American weapons firm) is looking to join forces with other firms to bring the bullet to market. If they are successful, Corporal Harrison's record may not stand for long.
目前这种子弹只是一个模型，桑迪亚（军火巨头洛克希德马丁经营的一个政府实验室）正在需找其他公司联手把它推向市场。如果他们能取得成功，哈里森下士的记录可能不会保持太久
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