????德士隆只要按照自己的、而不是國防部的生產標準來生產“天蝎座”就能成功地做到這一點。這意味著它將主要參照空軍飛機執行日常任務的標準來制造。美國國防部并未要求生產更便宜的戰術戰機，其他國家的空軍也無此要求，但是自從認識到市場有使用相對便宜的飛機替代頂級戰機的需求后，德士隆就開始在賽斯納公司運用豐富的噴氣戰機知識打造一些部件符合軍需的戰機了——也就是機身、座艙儀器、彈射椅和玻璃座艙罩都要符合軍用標準——而其他部位則采用了現成的商用技術。

????這番努力的成果（至少在理論上是如此）就是這架性能出眾的漂亮小飛機，它的最高時速可達500英里，在執行ISR或輕型戰斗這樣的低強度任務時一次升空可續航五小時。它的噴氣發動機由霍尼韋爾公司（Honeywell）提供（足以提供3000磅的ISR或武器載荷），航空電子巨頭科巴姆公司（Cobham）則為其提供久經考驗、性能可靠的座艙科技。

????所以，盡管“天蝎座”是一架全新設計的飛機，德士隆卻并沒有重新設計多數關鍵零部件。這不僅讓這家公司省下了巨額研發和制造費用，還在沒有獲得任何政府資助的情況下僅用兩年時間就生產出這架全新的噴氣戰機——按照五角大樓常規的飛機采購流程，這是根本不可能完成的任務。

????但是，美國空軍和國防部會有意采購一架自己一開始并未要求定制、性能有所縮水的戰機嗎？這還有待觀察。但在上周國家灣區的空軍協會年度大會開幕致辭中，空軍代理秘書長埃里克?范寧談到，未來數年，隨著美軍從延續十年之久的海外沖突中逐步抽調回國，空軍需要加強對“經濟實惠并容易負擔的（戰機）”的關注。

????不管怎么說，在全球各國軍方紛紛開始關注造價低廉的技術的情況下，美國國防部也只是一個客戶而已。本周二，德士隆發言人西爾維斯特在這屆大會上表示：“過去幾天里，到‘天蝎座’的展臺來參觀的人一直絡繹不絕。空軍協會不是光為美國空軍服務的，這屆大會有來自世界各地的空軍，其中有幾支已和我們進行了初步洽談。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠?

????Textron can get away with this by building the Scorpion to its own specs rather than the DoD's, taking guidance from those more routine missions that eat up most of a military air wing's flight hours. The U.S. Department of Defense has not asked for a less-expensive tactical fighter jet; nor has any foreign air force, but recognizing this need for a less-expensive alternative to top-of-the-line fighters Textron has leveraged the extensive jet aircraft engineering know-how in its Cessna division to create an aircraft that is mil-spec where it needs to be -- in the airframe, in the cockpit instruments, in the ejector seat and glass canopy -- and that employs commercial off-the-shelf technologies elsewhere.

????The result (on paper anyhow) is a pretty capable little jet that tops 500 miles per hour at the high end and can stay aloft for five hours at a time on a range of low-intensity missions ranging from ISR to light combat or strike. Honeywell (HON) jet engines provide the thrust (as well as ample power for a 3,000-pound ISR or weapons payload), and avionics stalwart Cobham will provide tried and tested cockpit technology.

????So while Scorpion is a brand new, clean-sheet aircraft design, Textron isn't trying to reinvent most of the critical components of the aircraft. That's not only allowed the company to save tremendously on development and manufacturing costs, but to produce a wholly new fighter jet in just two years and without any government funding -- a tacit impossibility under the Pentagon's traditional aircraft procurement process.

????But will the U.S. Air Force and DoD be interested in purchasing a less-capable fighter jet that it didn't ask for in the first place? That remains to be seen, but in his remarks opening the AFA confab in National Harbor last week, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning spoke of the need to focus on what's "affordable and sustainable" in the coming years as forces draw down from a decade of overseas conflict.

????And anyhow, the U.S. Department of Defense is just one customer in a world full of militaries looking for technology on the cheap. "There's been very steady traffic in the Scorpion exhibit over the past few days," says Textron's Sylvestre, speaking from the Air Force Association convention on Tuesday, "AFA isn't just for the U.S. Air Force, there are Air Forces from all over the world here, and several have stopped by to talk about it."?