Drones: Hovering Saviour or Menace?

无人机：空中救星还是威胁？

 

Regulators need to encourage drones, but also to protect people from them

监管机构需要鼓励无人机的发展，但也要保护人们不受其伤害

 

While testing a drone to detect sharks off a beach in New South Wales last year, Australian lifeguards spotted two young men struggling to swim in the violent surf. The drone was dispatched to drop an inflatable pod, which the men used to reach the shore safely. Such civilian drones are saviours that have helped rescue mountain-climbers and people trapped by natural disasters. They carry emergency medical supplies and organs for transplant. Apart from saving souls, civilian drones are becoming a good business. Goldman Sachs, a bank, reckons that the market will be worth $100bn by 2020 in areas such as surveying, security and delivery.

 

去年在新南威尔士州的一个海滩上，澳大利亚的救生员测试用无人机探测鲨鱼时发现两个年轻人正在汹涌的浪涛中挣扎。他们操控无人机投放了一个充气艇，两个年轻人靠它安全地回到了岸边。这样的民用无人机仿佛救星，它们协助救援登山者和被天灾所困的人们，运送紧急医疗用品和待移植的器官。除了拯救生命，无人机也日渐成为一门好生意。投行高盛估计，到2020年，勘察、安保和快递等领域无人机市场的价值将达到1000亿美元。

 

The trouble is that drones also endanger life and cause disruption, as they did on January 22nd when Newark airport near New York closed briefly after a drone was seen nearby. Drone sightings at Gatwick airport near London forced it to shut for 36 hours just before Christmas. Three weeks later a drone closed Heathrow, the world’s third-busiest airport, for an hour. These were hardly the first such incidents. Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport suspended flights in 2017 after spotting a drone. Pilots frequently report near-misses. Because they contain metal parts and potentially explosive lithium-ion batteries, drones can badly damage an aircraft in a collision. They are also used to smuggle contraband across borders and into prisons. In Yemen Houthi rebels recently used a drone to attack the VIP podium of a military parade-ground, reportedly killing six soldiers.

 

可问题是无人机也会危及生命，造成破坏。上月22日纽约附近的纽瓦克机场（Newark）周围发现一架无人机后，机场短暂关闭。去年圣诞节前夕，伦敦附近的盖特威克机场（Gatwick）出现无人机，机场被迫关闭36小时。三周后，世界上第三繁忙的机场希思罗机场发现无人机后关闭一小时。这些干扰事件都不是新鲜事了。2017年，斯德哥尔摩的阿兰达机场（Arlanda Airport）在发现一架无人机后暂停了所有航班。飞行员们经常上报差点与无人机相撞的险情。因为无人机含有金属部件和有爆炸危险的锂离子电池，所以一旦碰撞，飞机会严重受损。无人机还被用来在边境走私和向监狱运送违禁品。在也门，胡塞叛军最近使用一架无人机攻击了一个军事阅兵场的贵宾台，据称导致6名军人死亡。

 

As with other dual-use technologies, the task for regulators is to encourage the good uses of drones while preventing the bad. The tension between those aims can lead to contradictory impulses. The FBI warned recently that the threat to America from attacks by rogue drones is steadily increasing. The Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, is starting to allow some drones to be flown beyond the sight of their operators, which would greatly boost their commercial use. But some in the aviation industry worry that until drones can be incorporated into the air-traffic-control system, the relaxation of safety restrictions could make accidents more likely.

 

像对待其他军民两用技术一样，监管机构的任务是鼓励人们对无人机加以善用，同时防范他们用它来做坏事。这两个目标之间的对立可能导致相互矛盾的倾向。FBI近期警告说，流氓无人机对美国的威胁正持续增大。与此同时，联邦航空管理局（FAA）开始允许一些无人机飞出操作员的视线范围，这将极大地促进其商业用途。但是，一些航空业人士担心，在无人机可被纳入空中交通管制系统之前，放宽安全限制可能会使事故更容易发生。

 

Rules are needed to ensure that drones are safe, and many countries now have such laws. By and large, professional operators and keen hobbyists will respect them, because they will not want to have their flying permits revoked or their equipment confiscated. Stiff penalties and better information can keep irresponsible users in check. Manufacturers can put safeguards in their drones’ digital-navigation systems to prevent them being flown too high or too close to sensitive sites such as airports.

 

要确保无人机的安全使用就需要制定规则，许多国家现在都有此类法规。总的来说，专业无人机操作员和业余发烧友都会遵守这些法规，因为他们不想被吊销执照或被没收设备。严厉的处罚和更好的情报可以约束不负责任的无人机用户。制造商可以在无人机的数字导航系统中设置安全措施，以防它们飞得太高或离机场等敏感地点太近。

 

But it would be a mistake to pile rules on the industry in order to tackle malicious users, who will simply ignore them. Trouble-makers will not register their drones. They will overcome countermeasures by tampering with safety systems or building their own machines from readily available parts.

 

但是，为了对付恶意用户而一味对行业施加规则也是不对的，因为那些人对规则只会视若无睹。麻烦制造者不会登记他们的无人机，还会篡改安全系统或用很容易买到的零件自己制造无人机来对付管控措施。

 

Rather than wrap the drone industry in red tape, the security forces need to take on the rogue operators directly. The first trick is to identify threats quickly. The best hope, already used by some airports, is three-dimensional radar, which, unlike standard airfield radar, can track a drone flying several kilometres away. This can help airports detect if they have a problem, identify the source of the threat and, most important, rapidly determine when it is safe for flights to resume.

 

安全机构需要直接对付流氓操作员，而不是用繁琐的规章去约束无人机行业。第一个难题是快速识别威胁。对此最大的希望在于三维雷达，一些机场已经在用它了。与普通机场雷达不同，三维雷达可以在几公里外发现无人机。这可以帮助机场发现问题，确定威胁的来源，最重要的是可以快速确定何时可以安全地恢复航班。

 

Once a rogue drone has been spotted, it has to be disabled and safely forced down. This comes with risks. Military systems may not be suitable for protecting a big public event or a busy airport surrounded by residential areas. Firing bullets, missiles or lasers risks sending an out-of-control drone crashing into a public place. A better approach is therefore to attempt a “soft kill”, using signal-jamming, which can force a drone to land or seize remote control of it. Signal-jamming has to be careful, though, to ensure that aircraft instruments and airfield-navigation and radio systems are not also affected.

 

一旦发现流氓无人机，就必须令其瘫痪并安全迫降。这也伴随着风险。要保护大型公共活动或周边居住区密集的繁忙机场可能不适合动用军事系统。发射子弹、导弹或激光可能会让失控的无人机坠毁在公共场所。因此，更好的方法是用信号干扰来尝试“软杀伤”，迫使无人机降落或者夺取其遥控权。但是，信号干扰要谨慎操作，以确保飞机仪表和机场导航及无线电系统不受影响。

 

Investment in counter-drone systems is helping overcome some of these shortcomings. Other countermeasures can be added as better ones come along. But a technological race between malevolent drone operators and the forces of law and order is inevitable. As the countermeasures advance, regulators need to remember that their job is to hobble the bad guys without undermining the many beneficial uses of drones.

 

投资反无人机系统有助于克服这些缺点。随着更好的应对手段不断出现，也可以引入其他对策。然而，恶意无人机操作员和安全机构之间的一场技术竞赛将不可避免。在反制措施不断进步之时，监管机构需要记住，它们的工作是在不损害无人机的众多有益应用的情况下遏制坏人。

英文、中文版本下载：http://www.yingyushijie.com/shop/source/detail/id/2258.html