■孫百順

原文：

 The U.S. Navy has pulled the plug, for now, on a futuristic weapon that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity.

 The Navy spent more than a decade developing electromagnetic railgun and once considered putting them on the new, stealthy Zumwalt-class destroyers built at Maine's Bath Iron Works. But the Defense Department is turning its attention to hypersonic missiles to keep up with China and Russia, and the Navy cut funds for railgun research from its latest budget proposal.

 The removal of funding suggests the navy saw both challenges in implementing the technology as well as shortcomings in the projectile's range compared to hypersonic missiles, said Matthew Caris, a defense analyst at consultancy Avascent Group.

 The Navy's decision to pause research at year's end frees up resources for hypersonic missiles, directed-energy systems （like lasers） and electronic warfare systems, said Lt. Courtney Callaghan, a Navy spokesperson.

中譯：

 美國海軍目前中止一項使用電力發射砲彈的武器研發，該武器射速可達音速的7倍。

 海軍花費超過10年時間研發電磁砲（磁軌砲），且一度考慮將其裝配在巴斯鋼鐵造船廠製造的新型匿蹤朱瓦特級驅逐艦，但是國防部現在已將注意力轉向至極音速飛彈，以抗衡中共和俄羅斯海軍。最近的預算案已將電磁砲刪除。

 阿瓦森諮詢管理公司國防分析師馬修卡理士表示，刪除電磁砲經費，顯示海軍已看出，與極音速飛彈相較之下，電磁砲的科技研發和射程缺失難題。

 海軍發言人卡拉漢上尉表示，海軍決定在年底中止研發電磁砲後，可騰出資源，用於極音速飛彈、定向能量系統（如雷射）和電戰系統。

-關鍵軍語-

 ※pull the plug : 中止、停止

 We have to pull the plug on the whole plan.

 我們必須停止整個計畫。