【12月23日】看軍聞學英語

■刀客

原文:

Several former Marines said that the ways the aging AAVs are designed and operated make it 'tough' to get a full load of Marines out in a crisis. If it sinks, troops in heavy combat gear have to hold their breath and climb out of a flooded vehicle through narrow, hard-to-open hatches. The escape plans for the often overcrowded vehicles appear problematic at best and at worst, disasters waiting to happen.

AAVs rarely sink and fatal mishaps are uncommon for the 26-ton tracked vehicles made to move Marines from warships at sea to shore under fire, but tragedy struck in late July when an amphibious vehicle sank rapidly to a depth of 385 feet off the coast of southern California during a training exercise.

中譯:

多位美國退役陸戰隊員表示,老舊兩棲突擊車(AAV)的設計及操作方式,就是將之打造成「堅不可破」的載具,好讓整車載滿的陸戰隊員,都能在陷入危機時脫身。這種重型戰鬥機具倘若沉沒,裡頭的官兵必須摒息爬出狹窄、不易開啟的艙口,才能從被水淹沒的車輛脫身。對這種經常性載滿人員的輸具而言,逃生方案似乎存有風險,隨時都可能發生災難。

AAV這種重達26噸的履帶車,甚少沉沒,亦少有致命事故,其作用是將陸戰隊員從海上戰艦,送上敵火密布的灘頭。惟今年7月下旬,卻發生了悲劇,當時,1輛AAV在訓練操演期間,迅速沉沒於加州南部海岸外385英尺深之處。

-關鍵軍語-

※hatch:

An opening in the deck of a boat or ship.

例句:

The water pressure on the outer hatch is always greater than the air pressure inside the submarine.

潛艦艙口外部的水壓,通常會比其內部的氣壓更大。