Firefox

One target left.

Rejoin to the west. I'll clean up.

Lead, this is 3 Watch.

37 mm off the left.

Roger. Rolling in left.

Leave your cover. Get out of there.

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

I've been hit 20 miles

southeast of San Juan. Heading 1-3-0.

Major Gant?

Can you hear me?

Sorry we had to surprise you like that.

Come on, get him out of here.

This was taken on Friday.

It is the secret complex at Bilyarsk.

If you look at the top right corner,

you will make out the main hangar.

Could we...?

This is a detail of that section.

Take a good look...

...because we have every reason to believe

you're looking at the Firefox.

When the first rumors began to filter

out of the Soviet Union...

...some three years ago...

...our theoretical weapons strategists

stood before NATO to explain...

...with confidence, that it would take

the Soviets a minimum of 10 years...

...to develop a Mach 5 aircraft

with thought-control weapons.

I stand before you today to explain,

with much regret...

...that they were wrong.

At 0400 hours, on Thursday...

...we were stunned by the encoded

transmission...

...that sits in front of you.

-General Rogers?

-Along with satellite surveillance...

...planes were flown up Saturday over

the Turkish-Soviet border, roughly here.

And the Finnish-Soviet border, here.

Using the information

of Dr. Baranovich...

...about the time and flight path

of the Firefox...

...we monitored the arena

formed by these coordinates...

...here, with our most sophisticated

radar devices.

Except for a flight of cranes headed south,

nothing entered that airspace all day.

We checked immediately

with our source in Bilyarsk.

The Firefox flew,

and flew at the exact time...

...and within the specified coordinates

given to us by Dr. Baranovich.

We are left with only one explanation.

It is quite inescapable.

The Soviets have developed some

sort of anti-radar capability for the aircraft.

The Firefox is...

...to all intents and purposes...

...invisible.

All right, captain.

You came 5000 miles for this.

-Let's hear it.

-Captain Buckholz, sir.

It's been, what, three years now?

You're still keeping in shape. That's good.

A lot of people miss you back home, major.

They still talk about you.

All the guys think you must have

sprouted wings and flown away.

I had one hell of a time

tracking you down.

Look at these figures!

Fifty thousand pounds of thrust, per!

These Tumanskys deliver an excess

in a capacity of 100 percent.

Combat ceiling, 120,000 feet plus.

Note the increase in capacity,

100 percent.

Speed in excess of Mach 5, even Mach 6,

and able to maintain it.

Our best body design begins to melt...

...at Mach 3.

It should be very clear why the Soviets...

...were willing to risk using

a man like Baranovich.

A genius in theoretical physics, yes...

...but still a prisoner,

and a dissident Jew.

Our weapons system is,

as far as we can ascertain...

...one of the most advanced

ever conceived.

It couples radar and infrared

detection devices...

...with a thought-guided,

thought-controlled arsenal...

...onboard the plane.

The pilot's actual brain emissions

are translated into a central computer...

...through sensors in his helmet.

Whatever target the pilot chooses

is instantly destroyed...

...without his even pressing a button.

Or, as quickly as his eye

detects a threat...

...either visually

or on one of his scopes...

...his thought impulses are guiding

a missile to that threat.

This amounts to a two- to three-second

speed advantage...

...in reaction and attack time over

any defensive system we have today.

If the Soviets can mass-produce it...

...it will change

the structure of our world.

We at the S.I.S. have been working...

...on the pipeline into Moscow

and on to Bilyarsk for two years.

The mechanics of that phase

are ready to be implemented.

I understand that your Navy's phase of the

operation can be functional within 30 days?

Am I correct on that, admiral?

That is correct, sir.

How do they expect me to fly?

You've seen me.

We're not worried.

We have three months to train you.

It's getting you there, that's the problem.

Oh? Where is it?

Russia.

You've got to steal it.

Well, I don't choose to mount

an operation this way.

We didn't expect you

to be happy with it, general.

We're aware of his health record.

But his mother is Russian,

he's spoken the language since childhood...

...and is exactly the same size

as Colonel Voskov...

...who the suit and cockpit are fitted for.

You mean the operation is reduced to

the decision that he fits the pressure suit?

You're asking me

to put our resources on the line...

...for somebody who's never be

on an intelligence mission...

...who's subject to these kind of seizures.

Delayed stress syndrome

is common among our vets.

It manifests itself in civilian life,

not battle conditions.

-This is suicide.

-That's exactly why it'll work.

They'll never expect it. It's too

unthinkable for them to ever defend.

We'll get you on that airplane.

You just have to fly it.

-You guys are amazing, you know?

-We need you, major.

-You're the best we've got.

-You'll find somebody.

There's a lot of guys

who could fly that plane.

You fly it.

Not with your qualifications.

The decision has been made, gentlemen.

I'm afraid we have on other choice.

It's already been set in motion.

This is government land.

I've been authorized to mention

it could pass over to the private sector.

What you're saying then is that

you've already picked a volunteer.

You will be flying the fastest,

most sophisticated warplane...

...on the face of this earth.

You probably realized by now...

...you won't be

waltzing into Moscow as Mitchell Gant.

Get to know that man in front of you,

Leon Sprague.

He's a businessman from Nevada.

He's been flying in and out of Moscow

the last few months...

...from his factory in Marseilles,

selling our well-to-do comrades...

...a carburetor part

for their outboard motors.

He's actually been

defiling the Soviet youth...

...with large quantities of heroin.

He's a drug smuggler.

An enemy of the Soviet people.

At least that's what the KGB

has been led to believe.

He doesn't know it, but he's been

blazing the trail for you.

Look at that face.

Would you believe he had

5 pounds of heroin right there?

Looks like he's on a weekend

to Acapulco.

Could you be that cool, Gant?

Your suite will be bugged.

They know your habits.

You are trafficking in heroin.

They will have followed you for months.

Any slip in character will be noticed.

It would be lethal.

I cannot stress this strongly enough.

In the hotel, on the way to the bridge...

...you must not allow them to lose you.

As long as you relax, they relax.

Remember, we are playing

on their only real weakness.

Because of its very size,

the KGB is sometimes slow to awaken.

It is like a monster.

If you can walk by carefully enough,

it may just...

...lift an eyelid and sniff at you.

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