荷蘭警方：老鷹大戰無人機
The Dutch are using an ingenious, low-cost, totally organic solution to the country’s increasing drone problem – they’re having eagles trained to attack the flying machine as they would their usual prey.
如今，無人機引發的問題日益嚴重，荷蘭警方不得不另闢蹊徑，訓練老鷹來“捕獵”無人機，既節省了開銷，也保護了環境。
Drones are becoming a major problem all over the world – they block airspace and interfere with official operations like emergency air ambulance landings. Despite regulations, drone operators are able to get away with misuse. They’re often hidden from view, making it very difficult for authorities to detect their exact position and take action against them.
無人機給全世界都帶來了不小麻煩，有的私佔了空域，有的甚至妨礙了飛機的緊急迫降。儘管各國現已出臺相關法規，但不少無人機使用者仍逍遙法外，畢竟他們時常遠程操縱，執法人員因此很難精準定位，將其繩之以法。
The Dutch police were looking at tech-based solutions like remotely taking control of drone operating systems, but forcing a drone to autoland could backfire as it could go completely out of control. Thankfully, raptor training company ‘Guard From Above’ came up with a much better idea – to make use of eagles’ natural hunting instincts.
此前，荷蘭警方曾嘗試遠程干預無人機操作系統，迫使其自動着陸，但結果卻事與願違，因爲無人機很容易徹底失控。幸運的是，猛禽訓練公司“空中保鏢”棋高一着，提出可以使用老鷹來捕獵無人機。
Guard From Above claims to be the first company in the world to use birds of prey to intercept hostile drones. They’re now assisting the Dutch police force to create a fleet of police eagles that are trained to attack and snatch drones in mid-air using their strong talons. “The eagle sees the drone as its prey,” explained Sjoerd Hoogendoorn, who works for the company. “So he tries to take it to a safe location and guard it once he gets there.”
利用猛禽攔截惱人的無人機——空中保鏢公司的理念可說是前無古人。目前，荷蘭警方正與該公司合作，訓練一羣警鷹。這羣“空中奇兵”將以利爪，獵捕橫行半空的無人機。空中保鏢職員舍爾德•胡根道解釋道：“這些警鷹視無人機爲獵物，一旦捕獲，就會飛到安全的地方，將其保護起來。”
The practicality of the idea is currently being tested – it’ll be a couple of months before they decide if it’s the best solution or not. Eagles are highly skilled at mid-air intercepts, so there isn’t much risk of the drone going out of control or falling on people. But with larger drones the safety of the birds could be a concern – their legs or talons might suffer some damage from large carbon fiber parts. To solve this problem, the company is also working on a protection system for the birds.
眼下，此方案仍處試驗期。老鷹能否成爲對付無人機的利器，數月之後方可見分曉。當然，老鷹是空中的捕獵高手，因此無需擔心無人機失控或是砸傷人羣。不過，大型無人機卻有可能傷害老鷹，無人機上的大塊碳素纖維零件可能會刮傷鷹腿或鷹爪。空中保鏢正着眼開發一套護具，以解決以上問題。
Meanwhile, the Dutch police are looking into other electronic solutions as well. But if the eagle program works out, it’ll be cool to have eagles hunting drones, provided the birds don’t get hurt, of course.
另一邊，荷蘭警方也在開發無人機電子攔截設備。不過，倘若試驗中的警鷹能順利攔截無人機，還不傷分毫的話，那就再酷炫不過了。
Vocabulary
raptor: 猛禽
talon: 爪
