Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie, when Clint Eastwood is flying away from Russia, the Russian cruiser is really either an American Leahy or Belknap class cruiser.
Factual error: When flying towards the Russian missile cruiser, Gant says that "infra-red detection beams" have locked onto the Firefox. There is no such thing - infra-red (heat) sensors are entirely passive, meaning they do not give out any kind of signals and cannot be detected.
Continuity mistake: As Gant is pulling the Firefox out of the hangar, it is still very dark, as in pre-dawn. But as the Russian officers are shown shooting and watching the Firefox take off, it is suddenly much lighter outside as if it is after dawn and the sun can even be seen. But it would have taken 30-60 minutes for the light level to change that much.
Maj. Gant: All right. The bait's been swallowed. Let's head north to the Urals.
Trivia: The movie Firefox is a Soviet built radar-invisible aircraft. In reality, the American F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter was made possible by the work of a Russian physicist, Dr. Pyotr Ufimtsev. (Soviet designers thought his theories worthless!).
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Chosen answer: There was just an explosion in the hangar and in the resulting confusion none of them were sure why it was moving. To get it away from the fire is not unreasonable. Also, the Soviet military is not big on showing initiative. Unless told to disable it, none of the guards would risk severe punishment for damaging a valuable aircraft.
Grumpy Scot