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本帖最后由 choi 于 7-16-2014 16:50 编辑 
 鲍勒, 观察:空战似科幻 欧加速研发无人战机. BBC Chinese, July 16, 2014
 www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/scie ... combat_drones.shtml
 
 Tim Bowler, Farnborough: Europe's Combat Drone Challenge. BBC, July 15, 2014.
 www.bbc.com/news/business-28294239
 (“Last year, even France opted to buy US Reaper drones as a money-saving measure. Individually, Europe's nations are too small to be an effective market for combat drones. Only if they can develop a multinational drone would such a system be economical”)
 
 My comment:
 (a) This report is inane. Skim it and that is enough.
 
 (b) “Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, is easily BAE Systems' spookiest-looking aircraft.”
 (i) Taranis
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis
 (section 1 Etymology)
 (ii) The noun Taranis itself is Latin, “from the Celtic.”  Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
 
 (c) “Sleek, with swept-back wings, the grey, wedge-shaped Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), or drone, is ‘the most advanced aircraft ever produced in the UK,’ says the firm.”
 
 Compare
 (i) variable-sweep wing
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-sweep_wing
 with
 (ii) swept wing
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swept_wing
 
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