This airplane has been making the rounds for several weeks now, with folks being a bit confused as to whether it is the real deal.On 18 June 2004 a scene for the upcoming Columbia Tri-Star movie "Stealth" was filmed on the flight deck aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln was conducting local operations in preparation for an upcoming scheduled deployment after 10 months of dry docked Planned Incremental Availability (PIA). About 80 cast and crew members were aboard the Everett-based aircraft carrier to shoot scenes for the Columbia Pictures action film starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Sam Shepard, The $130 million film is expected to hit theaters in 2005.According to the back story, the F/A-37 "Talon" is a Mach 3.5, super cruise stealth fighter/bomber/interceptor with a 4000nm range. Top speed is somewhere in the Mach 4+ range. The movie is premised on an artificial-intelligence program designed to fly jet aircraft and reduce human casualties. Not surprisingly, one of the AI robo-pilots runs amok when Navy officials decide to use an unmanned version of the “Talon”. When the plane begins attacking friendly forces, Navy pilots are called in to save the planet from artificial intelligence.
