The F35 is the greatest boondoggle in American history, as one writer says, “too expensive to use, too expensive to lose”. Over its lifespan, it will cost the American taxpayer $1.7 trillion. An F35B costs $138 million dollars and over $36,000 an hour to operate.

正如一位作者所言，F(xiàn)35 是美國史上最大的浪費(fèi)，“ 太貴了，用不起，也損失不起”。
在其壽命期內(nèi)，它將耗費(fèi)美國納稅人1.7萬億美元，一架 F35B 的成本為1.38億美元，每小時的運(yùn)營成本超過3.6萬美元。

Intended to replace the F16, the F35 is slow, maneuvers sluggishly and cannot fire its new lightweight Gatling without destroying the housing and the airplane. It suffers from 13 “class one” defects that endanger both the aircraft and its crew. And 871 flaws that must be corrected before it can be fully operational—in 5 years.

F35 打算取代 F16，但它速度慢，機(jī)動遲緩，還無法在不破壞外殼和飛機(jī)的情況下使用其新型輕加特林機(jī)炮，F(xiàn)35 存在13個危及戰(zhàn)機(jī)和機(jī)組人員的 "一級 "缺陷，還有871項(xiàng)缺陷，必須在5年內(nèi)糾正后才能完全投入使用。

Still, the US has managed to force this aerial junk on a lot of its allies, most recently the UAE, which has prompted the Israelis who have two squadrons of the F35 and mostly use it for PR, to ask for the F22, which, of course, they can only afford to buy with American money.

不過，美國還是成功地把這種空中垃圾強(qiáng)加給了很多盟友，最近的一個是阿聯(lián)酋，這也促使擁有兩個 F35中隊(duì)的以色列人要求購買 F22，當(dāng)然，他們只會用美國的錢來買。

Last year, there were reports that the Syrians had downed an F35 over Syria with a Soviet era S200. The Israelis claimed a bird did it—over Israel. Nobody really knows.
The Syrians certainly shot something down! And it wasn’t an…um…bird.

去年，有報道稱敘利亞人用蘇聯(lián)時代的 S200 在敘利亞上空擊落了一架 F35，以色列人聲稱是一只鳥干的，而且是在以色列空域——沒有人知道真相究竟如何。
敘利亞人肯定擊落了什么東西 ! 而且那不是一只 ... 呃 ... 鳥。

However, it is unlikely that the Israelis are using the F35 over Syria. Losing an F35 to the Syrians–especially to a large anti-Zionist Syrian crow – would be too big embarrassment. Most IDF strikes inside Syria seem to have been carried out by F16s, which are faster, carry more ordinance and have the maneuverability to avoid incoming missiles if they detect them early enough.

然而，以色列不太可能在敘利亞使用 F35，損失一架 F35戰(zhàn)機(jī)，輸給敘利亞人，尤其是輸給一群反猶太復(fù)國主義的敘利亞人，將會非常尷尬。多數(shù)以色列國防軍在敘利亞境內(nèi)發(fā)動的空襲都是由 F16戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)執(zhí)行的，這種戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)速度更快，攜帶更多的彈藥，如果能盡早發(fā)現(xiàn)來襲的導(dǎo)彈，以其機(jī)動性，可以避開來襲的導(dǎo)彈。
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Another point….
Gen. Tod Wolters, who leads U.S. European Command, offered this explanation:

還有一點(diǎn).......
美國歐洲司令部司令托德·沃爾特斯將軍給出了這樣的解釋：

“You cannot operate an F-35 in the vicinity of an S-400. They won’t talk to each other, and what the two systems will attempt to do, certainly the S-400 against the F-35, is attempt to exploit the F-35’s capabilities.”

“你不能在 S-400 附近使用F35，這兩系統(tǒng)是不對付的，S-400 如果對上 F35，顯然 S-400 會利用機(jī)會測試和尋找F35的漏洞?！?/b>

The US, of course, has been using the F22 in Eastern Syria and Iraq within range of Russian systems, which now reportedly can detect even this more capable stealth aircraft.

當(dāng)然，美國一直在敘利亞東部和伊拉克使用 F22，且在俄羅斯的防空系統(tǒng)范圍內(nèi)，據(jù)報道現(xiàn)在連F22這種能力更強(qiáng)的隱身飛機(jī)都能探測到。

Yes, the Americans tried out the F35 in Afghanistan, since locals throwing rocks weren’t much of a threat. The sales point of the F35 is “stealth”, which is only fine–when your opponent doesn’t have much in the way of advanced radar equipment.

是的，美國人在阿富汗試用了 F35，因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)厝巳邮^并不構(gòu)成威脅，F(xiàn)35的賣點(diǎn)是“隱形”，但這只有在你的對手沒有太多先進(jìn)雷達(dá)設(shè)備的情況下才行。

“Stealth” is not invisibility.

“隱形”并非不可見

An S400 real time anti-stealth radar system can certainly pick up even a large bird-sized obxt, at 150 km, especially when moving at 700km per hour, which is a giveaway.

一套S400實(shí)時反隱身雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)，在150公里的距離上，肯定能探測到哪怕是鳥類大小的物體，尤其是這個物體還以700公里每小時的速度移動時，必然會暴露，這就是送死。

The Russians have yet to allow S300 or S400 launches in Syria thanks to a tacit agreement with the Israelis not to exacerbate regional tensions: so, it is not just that the very, very pragmatic Israelis don’t want to use the unreliable F35 over Syria, whose antiaircraft systems to be so much more sophisticated than, say, Lebanon—they don’t want to provoke the Russians.

俄羅斯尚未允許 S300 或 S400 在敘利亞開火，這要?dú)w功于以色列與俄羅斯達(dá)成了不加劇地區(qū)緊張局勢的默契 :
因此，極度務(wù)實(shí)的以色列不想在敘利亞上空使用不可靠的 F35，敘利亞的防空系統(tǒng)要比黎巴嫩復(fù)雜得多——而且他們也不想激怒俄國人。

The last time they did that, the Russians supplied the Syrians with the S300–albeit keeping control of these systems. The warning is obvious: there are redlines.

上一次他們這樣做，俄羅斯人向敘利亞人提供了S300——盡管俄羅斯保持了對這些系統(tǒng)的控制， 警告很明顯：勿踩紅線。

The Pentagon doesn’t really want this dog. Dogs don’t fly.

五角大樓不想要這只狗——這狗它不會飛啊。

But, as in the Yeltsin years in Russia, the US government works for the nation’s oligarchs, a country for Big Tech, by Big Tech, of Big Tech.

但是，就像在葉利欽時代的俄羅斯一樣，美國政府為這個國家的寡頭們工作，這個國家為大科技公司服務(wù)，由大科技公司管理，為大科技公司所有。
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The nation’s “defense” industry is a malapropism: all its wars are offensive. If the weapons don’t work too well — it doesn’t matter–because the US doesn’t fight anyone but third world countries. The more expensive and complicated the weapons are, the better it is for he companies that make them. How else can a poor CEO buy that second island in the Caribbean and a new private jet?

美國的 "國防 "工業(yè)是一個惡性循環(huán)：它所有的戰(zhàn)爭都是進(jìn)攻性的，如果武器不太好用——也無所謂——因?yàn)槊绹说谌澜鐕?，誰也不打。
武器越昂貴、越復(fù)雜，對制造武器的公司就越有利，否則，一個可憐的CEO怎么能買得下加勒比海兩個島嶼、一架新私人飛機(jī)？
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It also doesn’t matter that the America lost to little Vietnam, ended up losing Iraq to Iran, and soon leave Afghanistan, its tail between its legs. It is even losing in Yemen.

美國輸給了小小的越南，輸給了伊拉克，輸給了伊朗，最后，很快又要夾著尾巴離開阿富汗， 甚至在也門也輸?shù)囊凰浚贿^這些都無關(guān)緊要。

Of course, bullying other countries is more of a problem when your equipment doesn’t work. The new USS Ford, super carrier in the South China Sea? It can’t launch its aircraft. The UK’s new carrier which is supposed to show the flag against China? Its F35Bs can’t fire their guns. In any case, carriers are nice targets for hypersonic missiles.

當(dāng)然，當(dāng)你的裝備不行的時候，欺負(fù)別的國家就要更麻煩一點(diǎn)。
游弋南中國的新超級航母福特號？——它不能彈射飛機(jī)。
英國的新航母，本來是要對中國亮出旗幟的？ —— 它的F35B沒法使用機(jī)炮。
不管怎樣，航母都是高超音速導(dǎo)彈的好目標(biāo)。

The Russians and Chinese do defense differently – because for them it actually is defense.

俄羅斯人和中國人的“國防”防御方式不同——因?yàn)閷λ麄儊碚f，國防是真國防。

When Putin took over, he made it clear to the oligarchs who previously owned the country that they either deferred to the State, or got out. Some went to prison. Some got out. Russia is still very unequal but the Rich toe the line just as they do in China.

普京上臺后，他向曾經(jīng)擁有這個國家的寡頭們明確表示，他們要么聽命于國家，要么滾出去，有些人進(jìn)了監(jiān)獄，有些人逃了出來，盡管俄羅斯仍然非常不平等，但是其富人和中國富人一樣，遵規(guī)守矩。
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When the Ministry of Defense is not satisfied with a military product, either in terms of cost or performance, it simply cuts orders. This was the case with the Su57. Originally, the government had envisioned putting up to 250 of these aircraft into service by 2025. Now, Russia will get 76 aircraft at a 20% reduction in cost, with better engines, hypersonic weapons, electronics, improved stealth and general finish.

在俄羅斯，當(dāng)俄國防部對軍事不滿意時，別管你是成本問題還是性能問題，都會直接削減訂單，蘇57就是這種情況，原本，政府設(shè)想在2025年之前將多達(dá)250架這種戰(zhàn)機(jī)投入使用，但現(xiàn)在，俄羅斯只采購76架，成本降低了20%，配備了更好的發(fā)動機(jī)、高超音速武器、電子設(shè)備，改進(jìn)了隱身性和總體完成度。

And the Su57 will cost about $35 to $40 million each compared to the 138 million of the 35B or the $300 million of an F22. One reason for the discrepancy is that US companies expect the taxpayer to pay R&D and developmental costs, which are added to the flyaway cost. Of course, the companies use that R&D for lucrative commercial projects as well.

蘇57每架成本約為3500萬至4000萬美元，而 F35B 的造價是1.38億美元，F(xiàn)22更是高達(dá)3億美元。
造成這種差異的一個原因是，美國公司希望納稅人支付研發(fā)和開發(fā)費(fèi)用，而這些費(fèi)用是加在成本中的，當(dāng)然，這些公司也會把這些研發(fā)費(fèi)用用于利潤豐厚的商業(yè)項(xiàng)目。

Russia doesn’t have money to spare. It is still recovering from the Yelsin years and massive inequality. So it keeps defense companies in line.

俄羅斯沒有多余的錢。它仍然處于從葉利欽時代和巨大的不平等中恢復(fù)過來的過程中，因此，它讓國防企業(yè)守住規(guī)矩。
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The Su57 is a good example but also the T-14 (Armata) tank, where orders were slashed until the contractor promised to a. reduce costs; b. address performance issues.

蘇57是一個很好的例子，T-14 ( 阿瑪塔 ) 坦克也是 ，其訂單被削減，直到承包商承諾：a. 降低成本；b. 解決性能問題。

Putin made clear that Russia is a developing democracy. In the end, the people will rule, oligarchs or not.

普京明確表示，俄羅斯是一個發(fā)展中的民主國家，不管有沒有寡頭，這個國家都將由人民來統(tǒng)治。
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By contrast, the US is an “inverted totalitarian state”, or, if you like a “managed” democracy. It is not really a modern state in germs of governance, since it is defined by an 18th Century constitution and institutions, designed to prevent rather than enable democratic rule. The US loved Yeltsin because his “system” was really theirs.

相比之下，美國是一個“倒置的極權(quán)國家”—— 如果你喜歡的話，也可以用“有管理的”民主國家這個說法。
它并不是一個真正的現(xiàn)代國家，因?yàn)樗怯?8世紀(jì)的憲法和制度定義的，旨在防止而不是促成民主統(tǒng)治。
美國喜歡葉利欽，因?yàn)樗摹绑w制”實(shí)際上是他們的。