F/A-37 Talon prototype fighter.

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 &q