Next Space Force chief throws cold water on the idea of space privateers
Next Space Force chief throws cold water on the idea of space privateers
下任太空军司令对“太空私掠船”的想法泼了冷水
In the early years of the United States, when the nascent US Navy was still getting its sea legs, several presidents used privateers to capture or destroy enemy warships when armed naval vessels were unable to do so. President John Adams was one of the most vigorous proponents of commissioning private vessels for national ends. His administration issued letters of marque and reprisal during the so-called “Quasi-War” with France in the final years of the 18th century. These letters created the legal distinction between privateering and piracy. 在美国建国初期，当新兴的美国海军尚处于起步阶段时，几位总统曾利用私掠船（privateers）来捕获或摧毁敌方军舰，以弥补正规海军舰艇力量的不足。约翰·亚当斯总统是为国家利益征用私人船只的最积极倡导者之一。在他的政府任内，于18世纪末与法国所谓的“准战争”（Quasi-War）期间，签发了私掠许可证（letters of marque and reprisal）。这些许可证在法律上确立了私掠行为与海盗行为的区别。
One of the letters signed by Adams, dated November 1799, authorized the use of a merchant ship to “subdue, seize, and take any armed French vessel” found near US coastal waters of “elsewhere on the high seas.” France also routinely used privateers against US shipping at the time. The Continental Navy also relied on privateers for military purposes during the American Revolution, and President James Madison approved the use of merchant ships to fight against the much larger British Royal Navy in the War of 1812. 亚当斯签署的一份日期为1799年11月的许可证，授权一艘商船“征服、扣押并夺取”在美国沿海或“公海其他任何地方”发现的任何武装法国船只。当时，法国也经常使用私掠船针对美国航运进行攻击。大陆海军在独立战争期间也曾依赖私掠船执行军事任务，而詹姆斯·麦迪逊总统在1812年战争中也批准使用商船对抗规模庞大得多的英国皇家海军。
America’s use of privateers declined as the government expanded the size of the US Navy. The Constitution explicitly gives the government the power to use privateers. But the practice has become more controversial over the last 250 years. Many leaders in the late 18th century already considered privateering a morally ambiguous practice, according to Michael Crawford, a former senior historian at the Naval History and Heritage Command. The use of private vessels in warfare is largely moot in today’s era of US naval dominance. 随着美国政府不断扩大海军规模，美国对私掠船的使用逐渐减少。虽然宪法明确赋予了政府使用私掠船的权力，但过去250年来，这种做法变得越来越具争议性。据海军历史与遗产司令部前高级历史学家迈克尔·克劳福德称，早在18世纪末，许多领导人就已经认为私掠是一种道德上模棱两可的行为。在当今美国海军占据主导地位的时代，在战争中使用私人船只已基本失去了意义。
Benjamin Franklin wrote essays in the 1780s objecting to the use of privateers, despite his backing of privateering during the War of Independence a few years before. With the war over, he argued on humanitarian and economic grounds that privateering should be banned by all sides in any future conflict. “This will be a happy improvement of the law of nations,” Franklin wrote in a 1785 letter. “The humane and the just cannot but wish general success to the proposition.” 本杰明·富兰克林在18世纪80年代撰文反对使用私掠船，尽管他在几年前的独立战争期间曾支持过这种做法。战争结束后，他从人道主义和经济角度出发，主张在未来的任何冲突中，各方都应禁止私掠行为。“这将是国际法的一次可喜进步，”富兰克林在1785年的一封信中写道，“仁慈和正义之士必然会希望这一提议获得普遍成功。”
Franklin wasn’t the only Founding Father opposed to privateering. William Whipple, a delegate from New Hampshire of the Declaration of Independence, was more pointed in his criticism: “Those who are actively in it soon lose every idea of right and wrong, and for want of an opportunity of gratifying their insatiable avarice with the properties of the enemies of their country, will without the least compunction, seize properties of their friends.” 富兰克林并非唯一反对私掠的开国元勋。作为《独立宣言》签署人之一的新罕布什尔州代表威廉·惠普尔的批评更为尖锐：“那些积极参与其中的人很快就会丧失是非观念；由于无法通过掠夺国家敌人的财产来满足其贪得无厌的欲望，他们会毫无愧疚地去抢夺朋友的财产。”
Privateering in the 21st century
21世纪的私掠行为
Fast forward to today. Privateering is now prohibited under international law, and although it remains enshrined in the Constitution, the US government hasn’t used the practice since the War of 1812 (the Confederacy commissioned privateers against the Union Navy in the Civil War). Still, some present-day lawmakers want to bring it back. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) authored a bill last year seeking to allow privateering in the fight against drug cartels. 快进到今天。私掠行为现已被国际法禁止，尽管它仍被写入美国宪法，但自1812年战争以来，美国政府再未使用过这种手段（南北战争期间，南方邦联曾征用私掠船对抗联邦海军）。尽管如此，一些当代立法者仍希望将其恢复。参议员迈克·李（犹他州共和党人）和众议员蒂姆·伯切特（田纳西州共和党人）去年起草了一项法案，旨在允许在打击贩毒集团时使用私掠手段。
Lee and Burchett introduced a separate bill earlier this month calling for the government to use letters of marque and reprisal for cyber warfare. In a statement, Lee said the legislation “allows American digital privateers to raid cartels, cybercriminals, and foreign adversaries” and seize their assets. “This is the ultimate in white-hat hacking: stealing from America’s enemies at the direction of the president and splitting the profits with the federal government.” 本月早些时候，李和伯切特又提出了一项单独的法案，呼吁政府在网络战中使用私掠许可证。李在一份声明中表示，该立法“允许美国数字私掠者突袭贩毒集团、网络罪犯和外国对手”，并扣押其资产。“这是终极的白帽黑客行为：在总统的指挥下从美国的敌人那里窃取资产，并与联邦政府分享利润。”
Suddenly, it feels like it’s 1812 again. So why is a space reporter writing about this arcane corner of American history? With the possible exception of cyber, the lines between commercial and military operations in space are blurrier than in any other domain in modern warfare. The rules of engagement in space are still unrefined, if they exist at all. 突然间，感觉仿佛回到了1812年。那么，为什么一位太空记者要写这段美国历史上晦涩的角落呢？除了网络领域外，太空领域中商业运营与军事行动之间的界限比现代战争中的任何其他领域都要模糊。太空交战规则尚不完善，甚至可以说几乎不存在。
Global debates have weighed the legitimacy of targeting commercial satellites in military operations, especially as communications networks like Starlink and numerous commercial surveillance satellites underpin nearly everything on the terrestrial battlefield. The tentative verdict seems to be that, yes, these privately owned assets could be legitimate military targets. If that’s true, what is stopping a private operator from going on the offense in space? Would that be space piracy? Not if that operator holds a letter of marque or reprisal. 全球范围内的辩论一直在权衡在军事行动中针对商业卫星的合法性，尤其是考虑到像“星链”（Starlink）这样的通信网络和众多的商业监视卫星支撑着地面战场上的几乎一切。初步结论似乎是：是的，这些私人拥有的资产可能成为合法的军事目标。如果这是真的，那么有什么能阻止私人运营商在太空中发起进攻呢？那会是太空海盗行为吗？如果该运营商持有私掠许可证，那就不算。
The US Space Force is already using privately owned satellites in military exercises, simulating offensive and defensive maneuvers to respond to threat scenarios in low-Earth orbit. Those satellites don’t actually have weapons onboard, unless you consider the option of ramming an adversary’s spacecraft. There are good reasons not to do that. But space-based weapons will soon be part of the US arsenal, if they’re not already. 美国太空军已经在军事演习中使用私人拥有的卫星，模拟进攻和防御机动，以应对近地轨道的威胁场景。这些卫星实际上并没有携带武器，除非你把撞击敌方航天器也算作一种选择。不这样做是有充分理由的。但天基武器很快就会成为美国军火库的一部分，如果它们还没有成为的话。
US military officials believe Russia is already operationalizing an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon system in orbit to go along with ground-based ASAT missiles. The Pentagon’s planned Golden Dome missile defense shield is designed to include space-based missile interceptors in low-Earth orbit, which could, in theory, be used to target other spacecraft. Some aerospace and defense contractors are already developing prototypes for space-based interceptors with private investment. 美国军方官员认为，俄罗斯已经在轨道上部署了反卫星（ASAT）武器系统，以配合其地基反卫星导弹。五角大楼计划中的“金穹”（Golden Dome）导弹防御盾旨在包括近地轨道上的天基导弹拦截器，理论上这些拦截器可用于瞄准其他航天器。一些航空航天和国防承包商已经开始利用私人投资开发天基拦截器的原型机。