萨菲尔德研究中心位于艾伯塔省广袤蓝天之国的腹地，这里还拥有加拿大阳光最充足的天空，使其成为加拿大最关键创新领域之一——无人机和反无人机技术——的完美试验场。
The Suffield Research Centre is in the heart of Alberta's Big Sky country, and is also blessed with Canada's sunniest skies, making it the perfect testing ground for one of Canada's most critical areas of innovation: drone and counter-drone technology.
这里曾是英国陆军坦克兵的主要训练场，英国人逐渐撤出，并于2024年完全离开。
Once the main training ground for the tank crews of the British Army, the British gradually withdrew and left entirely by 2024.
但如今，随着各国军队紧急利用新技术重新武装，该基地正一片生机勃勃。
But today, the base is buzzing with activity as militaries urgently rearm with new technologies.
就连英国人也回来了，目前人数较少，而且不是来开坦克，而是来驾驶无人机——并将它们击落。
Even the British are back, in smaller numbers for now, and not to drive tanks but fly drones — and shoot them down.
加拿大国防部本月利用萨菲尔德举办了第四届反无人驾驶航空器沙盒竞赛，这是一场旨在寻找最具潜力创新的、奖金达100万美元的消灭无人机比赛。
Canada's Department of National Defence this month used Suffield to hold its fourth Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft Sandbox, a drone-killing contest with a million-dollar prize for the most promising innovation.
来自加拿大、澳大利亚、芬兰和美国的各家公司展示了探测和拦截无人机的新方法，加拿大、荷兰、德国、英国、美国和乌克兰军队的成员对其进行了密切观察。
Companies from Canada, Australia, Finland and the U.S. showcased new methods of detecting and intercepting drones, closely watched by members of the Canadian, Dutch, German, British, American and Ukrainian militaries.
所有的军队到那里都是为了学习和观察。但乌克兰人作为沙盒竞赛中唯一拥有无人机作战实战经验的军队，也是去传授经验的。
All of the armies are there to learn and observe. But the Ukrainians, as the only military at the Sandbox with real-world experience in drone warfare, are also there to teach.
加拿大皇家空军上校加布里埃尔·多雷表示：“他们正在创造我们想要效仿的环境。他们身处战场。他们是创新速度最快的人。他们只需看一眼就能立即告诉我们某事是否可行，因为他们正在经历这一切。”向专家学习 乌克兰冲突极大地推动了所有形式的无人机战争中科学创新的步伐：空中、地面、水面和水下。现在甚至还有能够从水下过渡到空中飞行的无人机。
"They're creating the environment that we want to emulate," said Col. Gabriel Doré of the Royal Canadian Air Force. "They're on the battlefield. They're the ones who are innovating the fastest. And they can tell us immediately if something's going to work or not just by looking at it, because they're living it." Learning from the experts The conflict in Ukraine has turbocharged the pace of scientific innovation in all forms of drone warfare: aerial, ground-based, marine surface and underwater. There are now even drones that can transition from underwater to aerial flight.
乌克兰陆军少校谢尔吉·库济阿拉表示：“我们需要在无人机领域成为第一，以便与俄罗斯作战。”
"We need to be the number one in drones to fight against Russia," said Ukrainian Army Maj. Sergiy Kuzyara.
库兹亚拉表示，这些无人机包括前线使用的廉价、简单的第一视角（FPV）四轴飞行器无人机，到海上无人机，再到“能够打击俄罗斯炼油厂或军事生产厂的‘纵深打击无人机’”。
Kuzyara said those drones include cheap, simple first-person view (FPV) quadcopter drones used on the front lines to marine drones to "deep-strike drones which are reaching Russian refineries or military production plants."
库兹亚拉表示，他此行到加拿大的任务不仅是考察最新的设计，还要“帮助你们的生产商了解前线需要什么，为了取得成功他们需要朝着哪个方向发展”。在2022年反无人机沙盒演习（CUAS Sandbox）中曾属于尖端技术的射频干扰机，在乌克兰前线已经过时。那里的电磁干扰极其强烈，以至于无人机操作员几乎完全放弃了无线电遥控，转而通过拖着长达数公里的线轴、纤细如发的光纤来引导无人机。
Kuzyara says his mission in Canada is not only to check out the latest designs, but also "help your producers to understand what's needed at the front line, what direction they need to go to be successful." Radio-frequency jammers that were cutting-edge tech at the 2022 CUAS Sandbox would already be obsolete on Ukraine's front lines, where jamming is so intense that drone operators have given up almost entirely on radio remote control, opting instead to guide their drones through hair-thin fibre-optic wires trailing from spools many kilometres long.
今年在沙盒演习中展示的一些技术在乌克兰的直接交战区并不切实际——尽管它们对其他应用很有用。
Some of the technology showcased this year at the Sandbox would not be practical in Ukraine's direct combat zones — although useful for other applications.
信号干扰影响着乌克兰无人机战争的方方面面。乌克兰陆军中校马克西姆·韦利琴科表示，卫星导航（如GPS）在前线也受到了干扰。
Signals jamming influences every aspect of the drone war in Ukraine. Ukrainian Army Lt-Col. Maxim Velychenko says satellite-powered navigation (such as GPS) is also jammed on the front lines.
自杀式无人机实现喷气动力化无人机战争创新步伐狂热的一个例子是：令人闻风丧胆的伊朗“见证者”无人机——这种航程可超过2,000公里的固定翼自杀式无人机——最近经历了一次具有威胁的升级。
Kamikaze drones go jet-powered One example of the frenetic pace of innovation in the drone war: the feared Iranian Shahed drones — fixed-wing kamikaze drones that can travel over 2,000 kilometres — have undergone a recent threatening upgrade.
库兹亚拉说：“我们知道如何击落内燃机驱动的‘见证者’无人机。但它们改用了喷气动力，因此我们需要使用新装备：喷气动力拦截器或导弹。”库兹亚拉称，新款“见证者”有时会与旧款混杂在一起，这是一种迷惑防空部队的“诡异”战术——它们以大约每小时180公里的速度一起飞行，随后喷气动力无人机会将速度提高一倍以上发动攻击。保罗·齐亚代认为他找到了解决方案。
"We know how to shoot down the Shaheds powered by the internal combustion engines," said Kuzyara. "But they switched to jet-powered and so we need to use something new: jet-powered interceptors or missiles." The new Shaheds are sometimes mixed with the older kind in what Kuzyara calls a "tricky" manoeuvre to deceive air defence crews — flying together at about 180 kilometres per hour before the jet-powered drones more than double their speed to attack. Paul Ziadé thinks he has the solution.
卡尔加里“北方矢量动力学”公司（North Vector Dynamics）的首席执行官一直是“沙盒”的常客。他设计了一款长达一米的激光制导导弹，其假想敌是喷气动力的“沙赫德”无人机。
The CEO of Calgary's North Vector Dynamics has been a regular at the Sandbox. He's designed a metre-long, laser-guided missile with the jet-powered Shahed in mind.
“我们的导弹不需要直接命中目标，”他说。“类似于许多其他防空导弹，我们所需要做的就是接近威胁附近，然后由战斗部负责剩下的工作。”然而，与其他防空导弹不同的是，这款原型机的设计旨在消灭无人机——并且体积更小、成本更低。
"Our missile does not need to achieve a direct hit on the target," he said. "Similar to many other air defence missiles, all we need to do is get to the proximity of the threat and then the warhead takes care of the rest." Unlike other air defence missiles, however, this prototype is designed to defeat drones — and is both smaller and cheaper.
在加拿大广播公司新闻（CBC News）目击的一场测试中，北方矢量公司的导弹几乎擦过了目标无人机，对于一款配备近炸引信并利用战斗部进行前方锥形爆炸的武器来说，这被视为一次击杀。在展示了其连接目标的能力后，下一轮测试很可能会包括战斗部。成本是关键因素能够可靠摧毁即使是喷气动力“沙赫德”无人机的武器已经存在。问题在于它们的成本。
In the test witnessed by CBC News, North Vector's missile almost brushed a target drone, considered a kill for a weapon that carries a proximity fuse and uses a warhead to blast a forward-conical explosion. Having shown its ability to connect with the target, the next round of testing will likely include the warhead. Cost a critical factor Weapons already exist that can reliably destroy even a jet-powered Shahed. The problem is their cost.
在美国与伊朗-以色列战争爆发之初，美国和海湾君主国被迫使用“爱国者”PAC-3导弹（每枚合500万加元）及其他昂贵的拦截弹来击落成本低得多的伊朗无人机。
At the start of the U.S. and Israel-Iran war, the United States and Gulf kingdoms were forced to use Patriot PAC-3 missiles ($5 million Cdn each) and other expensive interceptors to defeat much cheaper Iranian drones.
乌克兰成功研发了成本较低的拦截弹，但诸如新型“沙赫德”和“天竺葵-5”之类的喷气动力无人机迫使人们使用价格更高的替代品。多雷（Doré）表示，成本至关重要。
Ukraine has succeeded in inventing lower-cost interceptors, but jet-powered drones such as the new Shahed and the Geran-5 have forced the use of pricier alternatives. Cost is critical, says Doré.
“否则，对方非常容易向我们发送一堆无人机，从而迫使我们使用那些非常精密、非常昂贵的系统，”他说。“我们将非常迅速地耗尽弹药库。”
"Otherwise it's really easy to send a bunch of drones our way that's going to make us, you know, use very exquisite, very expensive systems," he said. "We're going to empty our magazines very rapidly."
降低单发成本并确保火力不会耗尽是无人机开发人员的核心目标，随着各方预计未来将看到更多无人机“蜂群”以及人工智能在目标定位和制导中得到更广泛的应用，这一点尤为重要。
Reducing cost-per-shot and ensuring you don't run out of firepower are key goals of drone developers, with all sides expecting to see more drone "swarms" in the future, and greater use of AI in targeting and guidance.
总部位于圣约翰的StrobelTEK公司的阿明·斯特罗贝尔（Armin Strobel）在2010年完成了关于无人机蜂群的博士论文，当时这还是一个冷门且鲜少被研究的课题。如今，他作为一款廉价、便携且采用光学制导的动能导弹的设计者，正在“沙箱”（Sandbox）比赛中同对手竞技，这款导弹旨在击败这些无人机蜂群。
Armin Strobel of St. John's-based StrobelTEK did a PhD thesis on drone swarms in 2010, when it was still an exotic and little-researched subject. Today he is competing in the Sandbox as the designer of a cheap, portable optically guided kinetic missile meant to defeat those swarms.
他向加拿大广播公司新闻（CBC News）表示，完全自主的攻击无人机即将来临。
He told CBC News that fully autonomous attack drones are on the horizon.
“这中间可能会有一些过渡步骤，但你基本上只需要派出无人机并下令：‘寻找这些目标并消灭它们。’”库亚拉（Kuzyara）表示，随着固定翼无人机为击败拦截弹而不断提速，它们将越来越像导弹。
"There might be some steps in between, but you'll basically just send out drones and say, 'Look for those targets and take care of them.'" Kuzyara says larger, fixed-wing drones will increasingly come to resemble missiles, as they speed up to defeat interceptors.
新奇创意可获额外加分。加拿大国防部并未告诉参赛者如何对组织无人机。组织者表示，展现出最大创新潜力的参赛者将赢得奖品。
Extra points for new ideas The Department of National Defence doesn't tell competitors how to neutralize drones. Those who show the most promise in innovation win the prize, say organizers.
今年的例子包括来自加拿大柯尔特（Colt Canada）的一款带引信的12号口径爆炸霰弹，该引信配有近炸引信，使射手无需直接命中即可消灭第一人称视角（FPV）无人机。
Examples this year include an explosive 12-gauge shotgun round from Colt Canada, fitted with a proximity fuse that allows a shooter to kill FPV drones without a direct hit.
总部位于亚拉巴马州的SCI科技公司（SCI Technology）拥有一款带有六个旋翼、携带网捕装置的长条形无人机。网捕装置一段时间以来一直被用于缠绕无人机并使其坠毁，但SCI公司的解决方案适用于由于地面存在人员或敏感基础设施，直接将携带炸药的无人机从空中击落存在安全隐患的场景。
Alabama-based SCI Technology has a long, tubular drone with six rotors that carries a net. Nets have been used for a while to entangle drones and make them crash, but SCI's solution is for situations where it's not safe to knock an explosive drone out of the sky because of the presence of people or sensitive infrastructure on the ground.
加拿大广播公司调查栏目（CBC Investigates）：日益增多的无人机行动正盘旋在北约上空；专家称若星链（Starlink）接入受限乌克兰能够适应；分析：北约如何在波罗的海上空做准备。SCI公司的“航空卫士”（AeroGuard）发射一张捕获敌方无人机的网，但该网仍与“航空卫士”保持系留，“航空卫士”随后将捕获的无人机运送至安全地点。
CBC InvestigatesThe growing drone campaign stalking NATO's skies Ukraine can adapt if Starlink access restricted, experts say AnalysisHow NATO is prepping in the Baltic skies SCI's AeroGuard fires a net that captures the enemy drone, but the net stays tethered to the AeroGuard, which then carries the captured drone to a safe location.
在2024年赢得一等奖的澳大利亚AIM防务公司（AIM Defence）携两台激光装置参加了2026年的活动。
Australia's AIM Defence, which won first prize in 2024, brought two laser units to the 2026 event.
该公司战略倡议总监珍妮尔·弗鲁温（Jenelle Frewen）表示，AIM利用其100万美元的奖金成立了一个加拿大分公司，目前该分公司拥有10名员工。此后，其激光系统变得更加强大、更加精准且更轻便。
Jenelle Frewen, the company's director of strategic initiatives, says AIM used its $1-million prize to set up a Canadian division that now employs 10 people. Its laser system has since become more powerful, more accurate and lighter.
“我们从加拿大获得了大量出色的支持，”她说。“我们最初是一家澳大利亚公司，现在我们是一家澳大利亚-加拿大合资公司。”“几周内就会过时”加拿大国防部认为提供免费测试设施和现金奖金是值得的，因为其在苏菲尔德的任务具有双重目的。
"We've had a lot of fantastic support from Canada," she said. "We were originally an Australian company, we're now a joint Australian-Canadian company." 'Obsolete in a couple of weeks' The Department of National Defence finds it worthwhile to provide a free testing facility and cash prizes because its mission in Suffield has a double purpose.
第一个目标是为加拿大军队寻找最佳的反无人机技术，而加拿大军队认识到在现代战争中增长最快的领域需要赶上进度。
The first is to find the best counter-drone technologies for the Canadian Forces, which recognize a need to catch up in the fastest-growing area of modern warfare.
第二个目标是培育国内无人机制造业。卡尼政府的国防无人机倡议专注于发展海洋无人机、水下无人机、无人地面车辆、爆炸性载荷、远程精确打击无人机以及在苏菲尔德进行测试的反无人机拦截器的能力。
The second, though, is to foster a domestic drone manufacturing industry. The Carney government's Defence Drone Initiative is focused on developing capabilities in marine drones, underwater drones, uncrewed ground vehicles, explosive payloads, long-range precision-strike drones and the counter-drone interceptors being tested at Suffield.
哈密尔顿无人机制造商不担心来自俄罗斯的威胁。军事指挥官承诺快速行动应对人工智能和机器人。多雷表示，这意味着要创造一个持续创新的环境。
Hamilton drone maker isn't bothered by threats from Russia Military commander vows fast action on AI and robots That means creating an environment of constant innovation, says Doré.
“即使我们今天能够提出一个完美的解决方案，它也可能在几周内就过时了，”他说。“现在更重要的是找到正确的流程并具备快速迭代的能力，而不是寻找当下的完美解决方案。”他预计，如果政府支持持续下去，加拿大无人机公司很快就会“在全球范围内具有竞争力”。
"Even if we could come up with a perfect solution today, it would probably be obsolete in a couple of weeks," he said. "It's not so much about finding the perfect solution now, it's about finding the right process and having the ability to iterate rapidly." He expects that Canadian drone companies will soon "be as competitive as any around the world" if the support from the government continues.
在这些条件下，他说“无论是反无人机公司还是无人机公司，都应该能够为自己找到市场，并在需要发展主权能力时作出回应。”
Under those conditions, he said "both counter and drone companies should be able to find a market for themselves, and answer the call when it comes to developing a sovereign capability."