巴格达的“野战排”——驻伊美军第1机步师第3炮兵团观察排行动记实

战后伊拉克仍然充满着血腥和冲突。美《时代》周刊记者近期从巴格达发回这篇特写。尽管作者基于美国的价值观描述驻伊美军一个排的经历,但人们仍然真实感受到了战争的残酷和可怕;伊拉克布满血迹和弹孔的墙壁,大街上平民的尸体被车辗过,衣不遮体、骨瘦如柴的伊拉克小顽童躲在石墙后偷窥美军巡逻。已有成千上万人为这场战争流血死亡。驻伊美军仍然频频遭到反抗者的袭击而毙命。面对如此血腥的袭击,谁都不知道下一个倒下的是谁?加之长期在海外作战,不少士兵在恶劣的生存环境下,面临着巨大压力和心灵创伤。如果这种状态长期下去,那么驻伊美军将陷入更加危险的境地。 ——编者     

新核裁军条约批准之后

批准新核裁军条约之后的国际联盟将在推进美国未来几年的国家利益方面发挥至关重要的作用,如处理伊朗问题,继续阿富汗战争,稳定伊拉克的局势。批准与韩国、哥伦比亚和巴拿马所缔结的自由贸易协定,以及维持足够的国防和外交预算。在总统的正确领导下,这种强有力的国际联盟应该一如既往地成为美国外交政策的重心所在。     

中国如何打赢“星球大战”？

美国海军战争学院中国太空计划专家琼·约翰逊·弗雷斯表示：“天宫一号主要是一个技术试验平台,它不会立刻为中国提供任何军事能力。”不过,天宫一号的发射,有望使北京更加接近在太空拥有长期人工前哨的莫斯科和华盛顿。     

南海地区冲突并非不可避免

南海问题和中国在该问题上的立场已成为近期的主要论题,特别是自去年7月东盟地区论坛会议召开以来。人们普遍认为,未来几年内,南海将成为冲突热点区。南海纠纷各方间言辞激烈,特别是中国、越南和菲律宾,正证明了这一点。美国声称其在南海地区有“国家利益”,这被视为其将积极介入南海问题的宣言。     

以色列武力攻伊难获美国支持

虽然以色列政府可能对在定居点问题上挑战美国毫无顾虑,但打击伊朗完全不能相提并论。不论白宫由谁掌舵以及其是否亲以色列,以色列未经美国同意对伊朗发动的单边攻击,都将对以美关系产生严重影响。毕竟。建立定居点不会直接冲击到美国民众与美国经济的安全,但是未经美国准许袭击伊朗将是一种威胁。     

A platform for initial testing of multiple camouflage patterns

The human visual system is still an important factor in military warfare; military personnel receive training on effective search strategies, and camouflage that can effectively conceal objects and personnel is a key component of a successful integrated survivability strategy. Previous methods of camouflage assessment have, amongst others, used psychophysics to generate distinctiveness metrics. However, the population from which the human observers are drawn is often not well defined, or necessarily appropriate. In this experiment we designed a new platform for testing multiple patterns based on a camouflaged object detection task, and investigate whether trained military observers perform better than civilians. We use a two-alternative forced choice paradigm, with participants searching images of woodland for a replica military helmet displaying Olive Green, Multi Terrain Pattern, US Marine Pattern or, as a conspicuous control, UN Peacekeeper Blue. Our data show that there is no difference in detection performance between the two observer groups but that there are clear differences in the effectiveness of the different helmet colour patterns in a temperate woodland environment. We conclude that when tasks involve very short stimulus presentation times, task-specific training has little effect on the success of target detection and thus this paradigm is particularly suitable for robust estimates of camouflage efficacy.     

Field test and probabilistic analysis of irregular steel debris casualty risks from a person-borne improvised explosive device

Person-borne improvised explosive devices (PBIEDs) are often used in terrorist attacks in Western countries. This study aims to predict the trajectories of PBIED fragments and the subsequent safety risks for people exposed to this hazard. An explosive field test with a typical PBIED composed of a plastic explosive charge and steel nut enhancements was performed to record initial fragment behaviour, including positions, velocity, and trajectory angles. These data were used to predict the full trajectory of PBIED fragments using a probabilistic analysis. In the probabilistic analyses a probability of fatality or serious injury was computed. Based on the results presented, many practical conclusions can be drawn, for instance, regarding safe evacuation distances if a person were exposed to a suspected PBIED.     

Improvement of VIS and IR camouflage properties by impregnating cotton fabric with PVB/IF-WS2

In order to examine the possibility to improve its camouflage properties standard cotton fabric with camouflage print was impregnated with poly(vinyl butyral), PVB and fullerene-like nanoparticles of tungsten disulfide, PVB/IF-WS₂. FTIR analysis excluded any possible chemical interaction of IF-WS₂ with PVB and the fabric. The camouflage behavior of the impregnated fabric has been examined firstly in the VIS part of the spectrum. Diffuse reflection, specular gloss and color coordinates were measured for three different shades (black, brown and dark green). Thermal imaging was applied to examine the camouflage abilities of this impregnation in IR part of the spectrum. The obtained results show that PVB/IF-WS₂ impregnation system induced enhacement of the materials camouflage properties, i.e. that IF-WS₂ have a positive effect on spectrophotometric characteristics of the fabric.     

调整加强城市民兵组织建设

城市是信息化战争的主战场。新世纪新阶段,城市民兵组织建设,必须深化调整改革,努力提高建设质量。强化“三种意识”。加强城市民兵组织建设,必须以使命任务为牵引,以巩固和提高战斗力为目标,强化“三种意识”:一是强化实战意识。按照信息化战争对城市民兵组织建设提出的新要求,不断调整优化组织结构,努力把转型建设与战时使用统一起来,把解决眼前问题与谋求长远发展统一起来,把继承优良传统与探索新的参战支前模式统一起来,实现由人力密集型、数量规模型向科技密集型、质量效能型转变,由遂行一般性城市防卫任务向遂行城市防空作战任务转变,…     

"堡垒"计划的破产罗科索夫斯基元帅忆库尔斯克战役准备工作

承蒙解放军出版社同意和支持．刊登《罗科索夫斯基元帅战争回忆录》(解放军出版社,2003年1月)摘选。所选章节为罗科索夫斯基元帅参与库尔斯克战役的内容。因文章篇幅较长,有删节,题目为原章节标题, 小标题为编者所加。