Goofs

When the Talons are about to get catapulted off the Lincoln early in the movie, one is shown with the yellow chocks around the wheels, and steel chains and hooks still attached holding it down to the deck to prevent movement. This is not the standard configuration for a jet just seconds from being catapulted airborne.

While going to rescue Kara Wade (Jessica Biel) Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) flies at a very low altitude and makes very aggressive maneuvers while doing so. However, he is not strapped in. Any such maneuvers, other than positive-G vertical climbs, would have taken him out of his seat.

Additionally, many might question his lack of helmet or facemask. At said altitude, hypoxia is mostly not an issue; but, communications and use of any sort of helmet-based displays are just a smidge more difficult. Then there is the possibility of needing to eject.

In the war game scenario at the beginning, the planes are heckled by Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Surface-to-Air Missiles. SAMs are only useful when the planes are flying above 500 feet. AAA do not criss-cross as shown, for fear of destroying each other.

In the opening action sequence, this is a training exercise, as denoted in the final moments with the blue plastic dummies on the primary target. However, the SAM Missiles and the AAA Gunfire is live munitions. With the cost of these aircraft and risking the pilots themselves, no Exercise is done with aggressors having live fire weapons, EVER.

When the Talon aircraft land on USS Abraham Lincoln early in the film, aircraft landing and being launched at the same time. To prevent on-deck collisions, that would never happen on carrier.

The rank insignia on the Naval officers collars is correct. When wearing the Service Khaki uniform, officers wear miniature sized metal grade insignia on the collars of khaki shirts. Source: Navy Uniform Regulations, Chapter 4, 4104.

The planes fly 15 feet in altitude over rice paddies and water at very high speeds. The force of the air being compressed under the jet should've made major disturbances in the water, yet nothing happens. A few seconds later, they fly over building and rip the roof tiles off.

The aircraft carrier is identified as the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) early in the movie, and initial action is on the Lincoln. Subsequent scenes are on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) as indicated by the large "68" and "70" on the flight deck and island structure.

When the hanger blows up Orbit is so close that at the very least he should have been seriously injured if not killed. YET in the film, NEITHER.

In firing missiles at the end of the film, an act of war, actions beyond the characters of the film would have been unleashed. The military of North Korean would have drawn toward that point and thereby preventing our "heroes" from escaping to the south.

Some night time scenes were filmed using a filter to darken scenes. BUT this technique leaves the sky blue when in fact the night sky is always black! Further, detail and color (both close and distant) is evident, when in fact it would, should fade, disappear, into the shadows and darkness of the background.

When the UCAV is first taken for a test run, Lt. Ben Gannon says "Let the schoolin' begin!" right before the fighters break formation. In the command center, with screens showing facial shots of each pilot, his mouth is not moving.

The bomb blows up a high-rise building in Yangon, Myanmar. It's actually in Thailand, on the west side of the highway leading from downtown Bangkok to the old airport at Don Muang. The cars on the nearby highway drive on the left. While Myanmar is former British colony, the country switched to driving on the right in 1970. Thailand drives on the left.

Lt. Wade's punch-out coordinates are given as 38 54 45N by 127 31 22E. That's 40 to 50 miles from the Korean border, not the 12.2 miles that EDI states later on.

Eucalyptus trees are clearly visible in several North Korea scenes. They're native to Australia, and grow in some other places, but not North Korea where the forests are mostly coniferous. The scenes were filmed in Australia.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is located in the Philippine Sea. The three Talons and the EDI fly westwards, to Myanmar. It is daylight in the Philippine Sea but nighttime in Myanmar. Although it is conceivable that they were flying from dawn westwards to where it was still just before dawn, there were a lot of people and traffic on the street, which would have indicated that it was early evening in Myanmar.

The first mission is to Myanmar (Burma), a relatively friendly country. And one which could be expected to arrest or kill terrorists if told about them.

Survival training must not have been a high priority for these elite pilots. Breaking radio silence over enemy territory to relay unimportant information and drawing attention to oneself while attempting to evade are just a couple of the errors these aviators make.

The soldiers are told that going into North Korean airspace would be an act of war. However, the Korean War has never officially ended. The US is still technically still at war with North Korea, and the peace proceedings are violated regularly across the DMZ.

An elite combatant would not fire a missile in a close-quarters situation, especially when other weapons are available. Anyone with just moderate training would know how to choose the right weapon for the right job.

When Lt. Gannon in Talon 1 is missile-locked by the pursuing Russian fighter, he gives the voice command "release chafe and flare." The correct term is chaff. Ejecting chaff (pieces of lightweight foil usually aluminum) creates a cloud of tiny targets that can fool a radar guided missile as the targeted jet radically moves away. The flare reference is a defense against heat seeking missiles. The chaff are dispensed way too close to be effective. Air-to-air missiles in air combat maneuvering (ACM) are fired from 10 to 60 miles away.

When Lt. Gannon dives towards the building "under construction," he says there is no collateral damage. A part of the left side hits the building next door, and the bustling market at the foot has disappeared.