hit a record 復習

防衛省は、２０１５年度の緊急発進の回数が、中国機に対して過去最多の５７１回に上ったと発表しました。

Scrambles against Chinese aircraft hit a record

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force fighters made a record number of scrambles against Chinese aircraft over the last fiscal year through March 2016.

The Defense Ministry says the number of scrambles against unidentified planes stood at 873 during fiscal 2015.

The annual figure has topped 800 for the 3rd straight year and is as high as that during the Cold War period.

A record 571 sorties were carried out against Chinese aircraft. That's up 23 percent from the previous year. The figure has exceeded 500 for the first time since record-taking began in fiscal 2001.

Chinese planes have frequently flown over the East China Sea. But some of them have also made repeated round-trip flights to and from the Pacific Ocean by flying between Okinawa's main island and Miyako Island in the southern prefecture.

The number of scrambles against Russian aircraft fell by about 40 percent to 288. The annual figure had sharply increased to 473 in fiscal 2014.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160424_17/

今回取り上げる表現は、見出しにある”hit a record”です。”hit”を『ウィズダム英和辞典』（第３版、三省堂）で引いたところ、第７義に「（あるレベル・数値）に達する；〈年齢などに〉到達する；〈車が〉〈ある速度〉を出す」とありました。

Macmillan Dictionary.comには、“to reach a particular amount, level, or age”と定義されており、

She hits forty this year and we’re planning a big party.

という例文が示されていました。

なので、今回の見出しは、「対中国機スクランブル発進が過去最多を記録した」とでも解釈できるでしょうか。

ちなみに、今回の表現は”hit a record low”「最低値を記録する」、”hit a record high”「最高値を記録する」という形で用いられることが多いようです。（Blue Sky）