navy pilots

The Science of Stealth

Some of the technology featured in the new sci-fi flick is based on real Air Force research, but most appears out of thin air. Our aviation editor explains

There are three reasons why filmmakers distort science and technology: 1) to make things look cooler, 2) to make a story “work”, and 3) because they have no clue what they’re talking about, and they’ve chosen to ignore the advice (or pleas) of the film’s consultants. Although Stealth—a hypersonically paced Top Gun update about an unmanned air combat vehicle (UCAV) gone amok—gets correct some of the futuristic air-combat technology it depicts, much of it is dead wrong, and the film commits all three of the aforementioned sins.

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