紐時賞析／中東戰事測驗歐洲軍力 意外曝侷限

法國總統馬克宏（中）登上部署在地中海的戴高樂號航空母艦，對官兵談話後高唱國歌。法新社

Show of Force by Europe Also Reveals Weaknesses

中東戰事測驗歐洲軍力 意外曝侷限

Despite refusing to join the attacks on Iran, Europe’s leaders have responded to the widening war in the Middle East by sending warships, fighter jets and air-defense systems to protect bases and allies in the region.

儘管拒絕參與對伊朗的攻擊行動，歐洲各國領導人仍對中東戰事擴大作出迴應，派出軍艦、戰鬥機與防空系統，保護該地區的基地與盟友。

Yet flexing those military muscles — in one of the Continent’s broadest mobilizations in recent years — has also revealed the limits of Europe’s defense abilities, officials and analysts said.

官員與分析人士紛紛指出，這次軍事行動是歐洲近年規模最廣的動員之一，但同時也暴露出歐洲防衛能力的侷限。

The mobilization is the first major stress test of Europe’s abilities since the Continent’s leaders came under pressure from President Donald Trump to increase military spending, increase troop numbers and take more responsibility for their defense. So far, experts said, the military response has shown that Europe’s rearmament and recruitment are still in their early stages after eight decades of reliance on U.S. firepower.

這次動員是對歐洲戰力的第一次重大壓力測試。此前，美國總統川普一直要求歐洲提高軍費、增加兵力，並承擔更多自身防衛責任。專家表示，目前爲止的軍事行動顯示，在深度依賴美國軍力80年後，歐洲的重新武裝與兵力招募仍然處於起步階段。

The deployments have left European forces scrambling to remain fully staffed on other fronts, including in the Baltic Sea, where they had tried to mount a show of force against Russia.

這些部署使歐洲部隊在其他戰線難以維持完整兵力，其中包括波羅的海地區。歐洲原本試圖在當地對俄羅斯展示軍事力量。

Diverting hardware and munitions to Arab allies in the Persian Gulf has also undercut Europe’s ability to support Ukraine’s defense against Moscow.

歐洲將軍事裝備與彈藥轉移到波斯灣的阿拉伯盟友，也削弱了歐洲支援烏克蘭對抗莫斯科的能力。

“We are very fragile from a warfare point of view,” Carlo Calenda, an Italian senator, said in an interview. “There might be a problem of defending our own country.”

義大利參議員卡倫達在訪問中表示：「從戰爭角度來看，我們非常脆弱。我們甚至可能連保衛自己國家都有問題。」

France’s deployment of warships, including its sole nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, to the Mediterranean and the Gulf amounted to more than half of its battle fleet, a show of strength that forced Paris to downscale operations elsewhere. Administrative snags delayed the deployment of a British destroyer to Cyprus by a week and undermined Britain’s hopes of projecting strength.

法國將軍艦部署到地中海與波斯灣，其中包括唯一一艘核動力航空母艦，總數超過其作戰艦隊的一半。這種展示軍力的行動迫使巴黎在其他地區縮減軍事部署。另一方面，行政程序問題使英國一艘驅逐艦延後一週才部署到賽普勒斯，也削弱英國原本希望展現的軍事力量。

Italy’s decision to send defense equipment to Arab allies under Iranian fire has left its own arsenal dangerously diminished. And the United States’ use of so much firepower in Iran has drastically reduced a stockpile that Europe had hoped it could depend on in the future.

義大利決定向遭伊朗攻擊的阿拉伯盟友提供防衛裝備，使本國武器庫存減少到危險程度。同時，美國在伊朗戰事中火力全開，也大幅消耗了歐洲原本希望未來可以寄望的軍備庫存。

“If the U.S. is firing off so much ordnance against Iran, then they can’t use it against the Chinese in, say, two years, and it’s not going to be available for the Europeans against Russia,” said Ed Arnold, a European security analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a research group in London.

倫敦智庫「皇家聯合軍事研究所」的歐洲安全分析師阿諾德表示：「如果美國現在對伊朗消耗大量軍火，那麼2年後對中國就派不上用場了，也不可能提供給歐洲對抗俄羅斯。」

Gaps in Europe’s military ability “are well known — we just have not been doing enough about them for a long, long time,” Arnold added.

阿諾德補充說：「歐洲軍事能力的缺口衆所周知——我們只是長久以來一直沒有認真處理」。

文／Lara Jakes and Catherine Porter，譯／國際中心

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