英国、美国与“闪电”导弹事件

Britain,A merica and the Skybolt Missile A ffair

20世纪50年代后期,英美两国政府都致力于恢复和加强因苏伊士运河危机而恶化的两国关系,并将核合作作为一项重要内容。在这一背景下,美国决定向英国提供“闪电”导弹。随着美国对欧政策的变化,加上“闪电”导弹研制费用的不断增加,肯尼迪政府决定取消研制计划,由此引发英国政府的强烈不满,使英美关系一度出现紧张。双方经过多次磋商,美国决定以性能更为先进的“北极星”导弹来取代“闪电”导弹。作为当代英美关系史上的一个插曲,这一事件深刻揭示出双方关系的复杂性。

After the Suez crisis,the British and American governments tried to restore and improve the mutual relations,and took nuclear cooperation as an important content.Within this context,the United States provided Britain the Skybolt missile.With the change of American policy toward Europe and the increasing cost of the missile development,the Kennedy administration decided to cancel the development program,which aroused strong response from the British government and made Anglo-American relations tense for a time.After many consultations between two sides,the United States replaced the Skybolt missile with a more advanced Polaris missile.As an episode in the history of contemporary Anglo-American relations,this affair further revealed the complexity of the so-called special relationship between two countries.