At Red Flag, the international training exercise for air forces of

allied countries, many of the world's best pilots ...

meet for the most challenging flying of their careers.

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Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag is an IMAX film about a man who wants to be, like his grandfather, a fighter pilot, chronicling his experience at United States Air Force Red Flag training, a simulated air war designed to train pilots for combat. It was directed by Stephen Low. The movie shows how airmen simulate a war without killing one other, the training of firemen, midair refueling, inside the plane views, and other aspects of aerial combat. The film was released in December 2004.

A war without guns

The exercise simulates an air war without firing actual weapons using NACTS (Nellis Air Combat Training System). The planes send back telemetry information to the computer, and when they have "fired," the computer figures out who is "hit." Color codes offer a way of telling the countries apart; the blue planes are the friendly force and the red planes are the enemy force in the exercise.

Runtime: 48 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Synopsis: Captain John "Otter" Stratton is a young American fighter pilot who flies the F-15 Eagle, arguably the most potent and successful fighter plane ever built. He was eight years old when he decided to become a pilot. It wasn't a tough decision -- his grandfather was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 air medals as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. As far as John was concerned, his grandfather had won the war all by himself in his beautiful blue Corsair. His grandfather was a hero and he intended to follow in his footsteps. At Red Flag, the international training exercise for the air forces of allied countries, hundreds of pilots meet for the most challenging flying of their careers. Red Flag is the final tune-up training for pilots and their crews before being sent into actual combat. The object is to make the exercises as real and challenging as possible -- to take the pilots, ground crews, mechanics, rescue personnel, etc., to the limits of what they can handle. We follow our young pilot as he makes his way through this extraordinary event held in the desert of Nevada. He is amazed at how complex, confusing and dangerous the exercises are. He also begins to notice team members who were absent from his childhood vision of heroism. There are people who work all night rebuilding engines and re-installing them into his aircraft so he can keep flying and training. There are people who rise at four-thirty each morning to scour the runways for tiny pebbles that can get sucked into engines and kill pilots. There are people who practice rushing into a flaming mockup of a crashed aircraft so if there is a real accident they will be ready to save the pilot. In the flying exercises, John realizes there are other pilots who aren't just out to prove themselves -- they are helping him -- watching his back, taking personal risks to cover his mistakes. And he is doing the same for them. He begins to think that being a hero is not quite as simple as he once believed. Captain John Stratton has gone on from Red Flag to serve three combat tours over Afghanistan and Iraq. Although he has seen much sacrifice and courage from other fighter pilots during his years in the Air Force, the extraordinary people he remembers are not just the pilots, but the whole team supporting from the ground as well as the entire USAF Air and Space Force. Now, as Stratton reflects from the cockpit of his F-15, squinting out into the evening light across the vast blue sky, his wingman aboard an F-15 Eagle vanishes for a moment, and in his imagination another aircraft flies beside him. It is a beautiful blue Corsair, a glowing phantom from another age.

故事發生在內華達的沙漠，在那裡一群年輕的飛行員正在接受最後一輪的訓練。年輕的飛行隊長John Stratton一心想成為英雄，他崇拜他的祖父，祖父在二戰中獲得很多獎章和榮譽。John 自己也曾在阿富汗和伊拉克服役時有出色的表現，然而訓練改變他的看法了。當他看到他的隊友冒著生命危險掩護他﹐補救他的錯誤, 他終於明白真正英雄不是一個人自己也而是一個集體共同奮鬥的結果。

該影片拍攝於內華達Nellis空軍基地，影評認為片中戰爭的場面比現實的更殘酷。「紅旗」借助美國軍隊的真實訓練場面詳盡描述了戰爭以及軍隊作戰各個方面，包括戰爭中控制、命令、情報、通訊各個方面，動用了400,000部隊人員包括132,000飛行員。

飛官「紅旗」拍攝花絮

1.「紅旗」運用真實空中作戰、陸地作戰、以及電子化戰爭環境下的訓練場景，最大限度的再現了戰爭場景及部隊的作戰能力。
為了拍攝「紅旗」，美國四支部隊中的空中精銳部隊進行為期兩周的訓練。
自1975年以來，NATO 和27個國家的空軍曾參加美國空軍訓練。
「紅旗」拍攝場地內華達Nellis空軍基地是美國空中作戰中心操控的美國最先進的的訓練基地之一。
「紅旗」拍攝涉及了400,000部隊人員，包括132,000飛行員。涉及地點超過了350,000，飛行時間達了600000小時。
「紅旗」中的藍色空軍包括了參加訓練的大部分機組人員，他們打擊空軍基地的目標，包括模擬場地、汽車部隊、坦克等。攻擊目標由地面、空中模擬部署保護，機具觀賞性。
「紅旗」中的紅色空軍使命包括攻擊藍色空軍和保護目標，採用模擬的地對空導彈、通訊破壞等技術。
「紅旗」中的白色空軍採用Nellis空中作戰訓練系統(NACTS)是世界上最先進的戰鬥訓練之一，監視紅色、藍色空軍，NACTS能夠使指揮官、監控以及訓練官同時監控作戰。
影片動用了戰鬥機、輸油機等十余種空中飛行器。
整個影片拍攝過程中飛行員完成了十次新的作戰任務。
「紅旗」展現戰爭各個方面，包括命令、控制、情報及電子戰爭等，同時增加夜間作戰。整個NACTS訓練系統使飛行的安全性以及戰鬥能力大大的提高了。