????過去，要從頭研制一架全新的先進戰機只有一種方式：依靠納稅人上繳的數億（甚至數十億）美元，軍方會首先探討這種戰機的最新技術要求，請數家航空領域的承包商進行投標，搞個數輪設計評審，拋出一份研發合同，隨后就只能祈禱樣機試制和生產過程中的延遲不需要再在已經花掉的數億美元基礎上追加上千萬美元。比如F-35聯合攻擊戰機就是如此。

????但賽斯納公司（Cessna）的母公司德士隆集團（Textron）卻大膽下注，另辟了一種開發方式：首先是了解全球各國空軍的即時需求，再用現成的零部件打造一架造價便宜得多的戰機，最后低價把這種配置縮減的低成本飛機賣給囊中羞澀的軍方。

????上周，由德士隆集團和AirLand Enterprises（這是一家主要由國防部退休高官組成的投資集團）共同為一架雙引擎噴氣式戰機揭幕。這架戰機經過特別設計，旨在降低精密度和技術復雜度。更重要的是，它要比現役任何現代戰機的購置成本和飛行成本都更便宜。

????德士隆集團總裁兼首席執行官斯科特?唐納利談及這架名為“天蝎座”的全新戰機的設計時說：“它能夠在威脅度較低的戰場及國土安全領域執行任務。它是世界上最實惠的戰術噴氣戰機。”

????德士隆在上周于馬里蘭州國家灣區（National Harbor）舉行的空軍協會（Air Force Association）年度“航空航天大會”上正式發布這款飛機前發表聲明中稱：“天蝎座旨在適應美國國防部和美國伙伴國日益緊縮的預算限制，”不過它的用途可遠不止于此。這架雙人座輕型攻擊機恰好填補了戰機市場一個重要的空白區，即在全球性能最好的渦輪螺旋槳飛機和精密尖端的噴氣戰機之間的細分市場。多年來，全球軍用戰機生產商一直不太重視這個市場。

????盡管對潛入敵方領空或與先進的敵方戰機近身格斗來說，像美國的F-22“猛禽”（Raptor）這樣先進的超音速隱形戰機和即將服役的聯合攻擊戰機F-35不可或缺，但絕大多數空軍——包括美國空軍和空軍國民警衛隊（Air National Guard）——多數飛行時間執行的都是普通任務。例行空中巡邏、飛行訓練、ISR任務（即收集情報、監視及偵察）及空中攔截（空中禁區及類似區域的防御）都比空中格斗要多得多。

????目前，美國及其他家底殷實的軍事大國都是用自己的高端戰機來完成這些日常任務。那些手頭吃緊的軍隊則常常購買高端渦輪螺旋槳飛機來執行ISR及其他飛行任務，而許多國家都會避免擁有一支純粹由昂貴的噴氣戰機組成的機隊。

????但在各國財政普遍緊張的時期，上述情況都不是真正經濟的方案。對需要負載大量裝備才能執行現代監視和偵察的ISR任務來說，渦輪螺旋槳飛機并不是很適合，而美國空軍現役的F-15和F-16戰機（或其他國家與之同級的戰機）則都是高度精密的空中防御平臺——對于執行這些日常任務來說實在是殺雞用牛刀。不管是執行戰斗任務還是日常巡邏，F-16每飛行小時都需花費約25,000美元，而今后服役的F-35可能費用還要高得多。

????德士隆正是從這些地方發現了像“天蝎座”這類戰機的價值所在，它比渦輪螺旋槳飛機功能更強大，同時又比頂級戰機更便宜。這種飛機每飛行小時的花費約為3,000美元，只是F-16執行例行任務所需成本的一個零頭。盡管德士隆-AirLand還未公布這架飛機的定價，但德士隆發言人大衛?西爾維斯特表示，它的單位成本將比傳統戰機要“便宜好幾倍”。

????There used to be one way to build a brand new, state-of-the-art fighter jet from scratch. Backed by millions (if not billions) of taxpayer dollars, a military would debate the potential jets' cutting-edge technology requirements, entertain bids from various aerospace contractors, perform multiple design reviews, award a development contract, and then hope that delays in the prototyping and production phases didn't pile tens of millions more in costs atop the hundreds of millions (if not billions) already spent. See: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

????But Cessna parent company Textron (TXT) is betting big on a second way: Look at the immediate needs of air forces around the world, build a far less expensive jet aircraft from off-the-shelf components, and offer this pared-down, low-cost fighter to cash-strapped militaries on the cheap.

????Last week a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises (an investor group made up largely of retired defense officials) unveiled a dual-engine jet fighter designed specifically to be less sophisticated, less technologically complex, and -- most importantly -- less expensive to buy and fly than any modern jet fighter in service today. "Capable of performing lower-threat battlefield and homeland security missions," Textron chairman and chief executive Scott Donnelly says of the clean-sheet fighter design known as the Scorpion, it's "the world's most affordable tactical jet aircraft."

????"The Scorpion is designed to accommodate the increasingly stringent budget constraints of the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. partner nations," Textron said in a statement prior to the official unveiling of the aircraft last week at the Air Force Association's annual Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., but that's not all it accommodates. The two-seat light attack plane addresses a key gap in the combat jet marketplace, one situated between the world's best-performing turboprops and its sophisticated fighter jets and one that has gone underserved by the world's fighter-manufacturing military powers for decades.

????While sophisticated, supersonic stealth fighters like the American F-22 Raptor and the upcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are crucial for penetrating enemy airspace or engaging in strikes against a technologically sophisticated foe, most air forces -- including the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard -- spend most of their flight hours performing more mundane tasks. Routine air patrols, training flights, ISR missions (that's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and air intercept (defense of restricted airspace and the like) are far more common than combat sorties.

????Currently, the U.S. and other well-heeled military powers use their high-end fighter jets to fly these routine missions. Less affluent militaries often buy high-end turboprop aircraft to conduct ISR and other flights, and many eschew owning a fleet of expensive jet fighters altogether.

????But in tight fiscal times neither of these scenarios is a truly economical solution. Turboprops aren't well-suited to the heavy ISR payloads necessary to conduct modern surveillance and recon missions, and the F-15s and F-16s the Air Force uses (or their foreign counterparts) are highly sophisticated aerial defense platforms -- overkill for these kinds of routine tasks. F-16s cost roughly $25,000 per flight hour to operate whether in a combat role or in a routine airspace patrol, and the F-35s of the future fleet could cost significantly more.

????That's where Textron sees value in an aircraft like the Scorpion that's more capable than a turboprop and less costly than a top-of-the-line fighter jet model. With an estimated cost-per-flight-hour of roughly $3,000, the jet would consume a fraction of the operating cost of an F-16 for routine missions. And while Textron-AirLand hasn't released pricing information yet, the per-unit cost is expected to be "multiple times less per copy" than a traditional jet, says Textron spokesman David Sylvestre.