根据CNN获得的一份备忘录，美国国防部已授权国土安全部测试一种军用级热射线武器，并制定战术以期在美墨边境行动中潜在使用。该备忘录由国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯于上个月签署。
The Pentagon has given the Department of Homeland Security permission to test a military-grade heat ray and develop tactics to potentially use it in operations at the southern US border, according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month and obtained by CNN.
据美军介绍，这种热射线正式名称为“主动拒止系统”，是一种非致命武器，可发射一束不可见的电磁波，射程略超半英里（约0.8公里）。
The heat ray, officially known as the Active Denial System, is a nonlethal weapon that shoots an invisible beam of electromagnetic waves that can reach a little more than half a mile away, according to the US military.
当能量束接触人体皮肤时会产生灼烧感——五角大楼官员此前曾将其比作打开热烤箱时感受到的一股热浪。军方官员称，由此产生的“刺痛效应”持续10至15分钟，但也会产生“一种本能的、无法抗拒的想要逃离该效应区域的冲动”。即使对于将边境安全和打击非法移民列为头等大事的特朗普政府而言，在美墨边境部署热射线也将是前所未有的举措。
The energy beam causes a burning sensation when it comes into contact with the human skin — which Pentagon officials have previously compared to feeling a blast of heat when opening a hot oven. Military officials have said the resulting “tingling effect” lasts between 10 and 15 minutes but also generates “an instinctive and irresistible urge to run from the effect.”Deploying the heat ray at the US border would be an unprecedented step, even for the Trump administration, which has made border security and clamping down on immigration a top priority.
该备忘录未具体说明武器将在何地、以何种方式进行测试，以及未来可能如何使用，但据现任和前任海关与边境保护局官员透露，多年来内部曾讨论过将其潜在用于美墨边境的人群驱散。
The DHS request did not specify where or how the weapon would be tested and how it might eventually be used, but over the years, there have been internal discussions about potentially using it for crowd dispersal along the US-Mexico border, according to current and former Customs and Border Protection officials.
据一位知情前美国官员透露，美国官员此前还曾考虑在国内动荡时期部署该系统，包括唐纳德·特朗普首个总统任期末期，因乔治·弗洛伊德遇害引发抗议活动之时。
US officials had also considered deploying the system during moments of domestic unrest, including at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term when protests erupted over the murder of George Floyd, according to a former US official familiar with those discussions.
该备忘录授权“临时借用”一套ADS系统，为期七个月，自9月开始，并规定“不得由战争部人员操作”，这似乎旨在免除五角大楼对该定向能武器最终可能如何部署的任何责任。
The memo authorizes the “temporary loan” of one ADS system for seven months, starting in September, and states that it “shall not be operated by DoW (Department of War) personnel,” appearing to absolve the Pentagon of any responsibility for how the directed-energy system may ultimately be deployed.
文件还指出，国土安全部全权负责“系统的部署、使用以及战术、技术和程序的开发”。一名国防官员向美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）表示，在为期七个月的借用期结束时，国土安全部可根据需求提交额外请求，以在边境行动中继续使用五角大楼的系统。
It also states that DHS is solely responsible for “system employment, use and development of tactics, techniques and procedures.”At the end of the seven-month loan period, DHS can submit an additional request for further use of the Pentagon system in border operations based on need, a defense official told CNN.
海关与边境保护局的一名发言人在给美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的声明中表示：“海关与边境保护局一直在评估新技术，尤其是那些能够提高行动效能和增强使命能力的 tehnologies [注：此处按原文翻译，原文为technologies]。”
“CBP is continually evaluating new technologies, especially those that enhance operational effectiveness and strengthen mission capabilities,” a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
当被要求置评时，五角大楼将美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的问询转给了国土安全部。
The Pentagon referred CNN to DHS when asked for comment.
近二十年前，美军曾将该系统短暂部署到阿富汗，但最终在实战行动中放弃使用。据一位熟悉此前内部考量的人士透露，美军还曾考虑在海外关押恐怖主义被扣押人员的美军设施中，将该系统用于人群控制目的，但最终也放弃将其用于该目的。
The US military briefly deployed the system to Afghanistan nearly two decades ago but ultimately declined to use it during active combat operations. The US military also considered using the system for crowd control purposes at US facilities abroad where terrorist detainees were being held at the time but ultimately declined to employ it for that purpose as well, according to a source familiar with those previous internal considerations.
海关与部门官员此前曾考虑在非法越境高发地区使用该系统的想法。边境官员曾偶尔讨论过潜在地将该系统作为驱散人群的工具，但该系统从未被部署过。
Customs and Border Protection officials have previously entertained the idea of using the system in areas where there’s a high concentration of illegal crossings. Border officials have occasionally discussed potentially using the system as a crowd dispersal tool, but it has never been deployed.
官员们遇到了有关合法性、武力使用、效能以及潜在的主权问题的障碍，特别是如果该系统被部署在尚未越境进入美国的墨西哥人员身上时。然而，这些担忧中最主要的是，该武器是否会直接或间接地对人员造成伤害。
Officials ran into hurdles over legalities, use of force, effectiveness, and potential issues over sovereignty, particularly if the system was deployed on people in Mexico who had not yet crossed into the US. Chief among those concerns, however, was whether people could be harmed, either directly or indirectly, by the weapon.
“即使他们把人赶回河里，你也不希望他们进去溺水身亡，”一名美国海关与边境保护局前官员对美国有线电视新闻网表示。“考虑到成本、培训以及你将制定的政策，这样做值得吗？”据一名海关与边境保护局官员透露，埃尔森特罗分局负责美墨边境沿线约70英里的防区，曾在几年前对该系统进行过评估，当时现任海关与边境保护局局长的罗德尼·斯科特领导着该分局。
“Even if they’re chasing people back to the river, you don’t want them to go in and drown,” a former CBP official told CNN. “For the cost, for the training and for the policies you’re going to create, is the juice worth the squeeze?”El Centro sector, which covers around 70 miles along the US-Mexico border, evaluated the system several years ago, when Rodney Scott, who now serves as CBP commissioner, helmed that sector, according to a CBP official.
当时，官员们正在讨论该系统是否可以通过阻止人们试图在该地区过境或迫使他们离开水域，来帮助特工应对附近河流沿岸非法越境激增的情况。
At the time, officials were discussing whether the system might help agents with an influx of illegal crossings along the nearby river by discouraging people from trying to cross in that area or pushing them to get out of the water.
这名官员表示，当时的考量之一是，如果人们被该技术失去行动能力，是否会导致更多的救援行动，尽管目前尚不清楚该系统为何未能部署。
One of the considerations at the time was whether the system might result in more rescues if people were incapacitated by the technology, the official said, though it’s unclear why it wasn’t deployed.
2018年，在中期选举之前，海关与边境保护局官员也曾权衡过对移民使用该系统，但时任国土安全部部长克尔斯滕·尼尔森将其否决了。
In 2018, prior to midterms, CBP officials also weighed using it against migrants, but then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen shot it down.
“问题在于把移民和公民当作敌方战斗人员对待，”一名熟悉先前关于对移民使用该武器讨论的国土安全部前官员对美国有线电视新闻网表示。“从主题上讲，不人道的对待通常会被拒绝。”据另一名海关与边境保护局前官员透露，在边境越境人数处于低位且人员增加的背景下，一些边境巡逻队特工最近对是否真的需要这一工具表示了怀疑。
“The issue was treating immigrants and citizens like enemy combatants,” a former DHS official familiar with previous discussions about using the weapon against migrants told CNN. “Thematically, inhumane treatments typically get rejected.”Some Border Patrol agents have more recently cast doubt over whether they need the tool at all amid low border crossings and an increase in personnel, according to another former CBP official.