From 1996 to 2001, Boeing and Lockheed Martin produced rival designs and prototypes for the Joint Strike Fighter, a stealthy, affordable combat plane intended for the 21st century needs of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marines. In "Battle of the X-Planes," NOVA goes behind the scenes to show the world's newest fighter taking shape, as Boeing and Lockheed Martin compete to win the largest contract in military history.
Narrator
Self
02 Dec 2004
Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag follows American F-15 Eagle pilot John Stratton as he trains with some of the world’s best pilots. The movie depicts Stratton’s progression through the challenging and dangerous exercises of Operation Red Flag, the international training program for air forces of allied countries.
25 Mar 2008
Modern and historic footage tells the story of the war horse of the 12 Western air forces. The carrier-based Phantom II won its spurs in Vietnam where its extraordinary capabilities led to adaptation for land-based rolls ranging from ground attack through battlefield reconnaissance to defense suppression. McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II covers the first development of the type and its powerful engine and includes a walk-round of an F-4B. The Phantom then joins the fleet and US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Air Forces machines see action in Vietnam.
01 Jan 1985
During the Vietnam War, the main threat to the strike packages was the V-750 (S-75) Dvina, the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM). Better known by the NATO designation SA-2 Guideline To suppress and destroy this threat, the U.S. Air Force countered with the courage and skill of the Wild Weasels, who not only flew some of the most dangerous missions in Southeast Asia but also became pioneers in Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) operations. This documentary tells the story of the Wild Weasel program.
22 May 2022
The 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick" continues the adventures of the ace fighter pilot made famous by Tom Cruise. But how true to life is the fictional story to the real Naval Fighter Weapons School? TOPGUN flight instructors take us inside the most famous and prestigious training program in the sky, where only the top 5% of U.S. naval aviators are accepted. We reveal the tactics and techniques taught in the classroom and in the air. We also examine how the real Navy TOPGUN came to be, an origin story that is truly stranger than fiction.
22 Dec 1955
This short film looks at the purpose and methods of the U.S. Air Force, and the difficulties of getting along with civilian neighbors. The story involves members of an Air Force base proving their worth to the mayor of a nearby town who would like to see them gone due to noise pollution.
This short film employs an anonymous hotline to elevate the voices beneath Vermont's F-35 flight path, the first urban residents to live with one of the military's most controversial weapons systems overhead. Tranquil scenes of unassuming neighborhoods near Burlington International Airport are juxtaposed with voicemails of the unheard, those drowned out by the ear-shattering “sound of freedom.” Exploring the relationship between picturesque residential areas and the deafening fighter jets overhead, Jet Line is a poetic portrait of a community plagued by war machines, documenting untenable conditions in a small city once voted one of the best places to live in America.
01 Jan 1986
Short film about the MiG fighter jets of the NVA
30 Jun 2006
This new atmospheric documentary by Lionel Charlet plunges us into the world of an exceptional plane - the F/A-18 Hornet. For six months, in Switzerland, Norway and Sardinia, Lionel has shot original footage of this fighter jet in action. The feeling of flying is real, the missions are varied, the poetry of the lights is enthralling... A powerful, finely worked soundtrack adds to the richness of these extraordinary high-definition images. Ice Hornet will delight all aviation fans. It will enchant nature-lovers who will fly through landscapes in unbelievable 3-D.
01 Jan 1987
Immersion Video fuses point-of-view and perspective video, digital audio and special-interest information into an exciting new class of home video product. Pulling G's puts you in the pilot's seat of America's hottest jets and helicopters. The action is bathed in an original live-to-digital score by composer William S. Weisbach. A printed Flight Log provides pilot's commentary, composer's notes and intriguing insights into the visual and musical action.
18 Jun 1982
The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called 'Firefox'. Worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon—as there are rumours that it is undetectable by radar—the British send ex-Vietnam War pilot, Mitchell Gant on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal the Firefox.
25 Jul 1997
When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
12 May 2000
In the year 3000, man is no match for the Psychlos, a greedy, manipulative race of aliens on a quest for ultimate profit. Led by the powerful Terl, the Psychlos are stripping Earth clean of its natural resources, using the broken remnants of humanity as slaves. What is left of the human race has descended into a near primitive state. After being captured, it is up to Tyler to save mankind.
21 Jul 1984
It is A.D. 2009 and the human race is caught in a war between giant humanoids, male Zentrans and female Meltrans. Returning from the edge of our solar system after making a space fold, the SDF-1 Macross makes the long journey back to Earth with survivors of South Ataria Island.
27 Jul 2005
Deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program, three pilots struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control ... before it initiates the next world war.
06 Oct 1995
Three decades after the great war between the humans and the Zentradi, the U.N. government is developing new technologies to use in their transforming fighter aircraft by running tests on the colony planet Eden. Military test pilots and former childhood friends, loose cannon Isamu Alva Dyson and the Zentradi mixed race Guld Goa Bowman, are selected to each pilot a new aircraft (Shinsei Industries' YF-19 & General Galaxy's YF-21) for Project Super Nova, to choose the newest successor to the VF-11 Thunderbolt variable fighter which is currently still in use by the U.N. Spacy military forces. Their own personal grudges end up disrupting the tests, and begin to wreak havoc on the program.
09 Feb 2018
Macross Delta is set in the year 2067, eight years after the events of Macross Frontier. The story focuses on Walküre, a team of talented idols and the Delta Squadron, a team of experienced Valkyrie pilots as they battle against the Var Syndrome, a mysterious phenomena that is consuming the galaxy, alongside the mysterious Aerial Knights Valkyrie fighter team of the Kingdom of Wind. This film recompiles scenes from the television anime with new scenes to tell a different story.
21 May 1992
Plot Summary: A.D. 2089 - 80 years have passed since Space War I changed the lives of both human and Zentraedi races. Both races are at peace on Earth when a new alien race called the "Marduk" appear within the Solar System. While covering the first battle between the U.N. Spacy and the Marduk fleet, SNN rookie reporter Hibiki Kanzaki discovers Ishtar, an "Emulator" that enhances the Marduk's combat abilities through singing. Hibiki brings Ishtar to Earth to teach her the values of life and culture. Together with ace Valkyrie pilot Silvie Gena, Hibiki and Ishtar must find a way to save Earth from total destruction at the hands of the Marduk leader Ingues.
17 Aug 1979
Aviation disaster-prone Joe Patroni must contend with nuclear missiles, the French Air Force and the threat of the plane splitting in two over the Alps.
01 May 1958
An Air Force captain teaches pilots to fly jets but doesn't like it.
18 Sep 1991
Hot aerial sequences accelerate the excitement in "Blue Tornado." Air Force fighter pilots on a test mission are blinded by a dazzling light on a mountainside: Philip (Ted McGinley) crashes and disappears. Flight leader Alex (Dirk Benedict) is debriefed but his inquiry is shelved. More jets mysteriously disappear in the sequestered area. Alex's covert investigation, with the assistance of the beautiful NATO researcher Isabella (Patsy Kensit) is officially subverted by a Committee of Inquiry. So on his own reconnaissance, the defiant Alex hazards a final desperate search for his missing friend, discovering the secrets shrouded on the forbidden mountain!