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Fire Birds
A joint U.S.–South American task force is formed to counter a powerful drug cartel smuggling narcotics to the United States. However, a U.S. Army air assault on the cartel's fortified mountain compound is repelled by Eric Stoller (Bert Rhine), a skilled mercenary pilot flying a modified MD 500 Defender called the "Scorpion", who shoots down the assault force's UH-60 Black Hawks and attacks their AH-1 Cobra escorts; Jake Preston (Nicolas Cage), the sole surviving Cobra pilot, is forced to retreat. The U.S. Army plans to deploy a team of four AH-64 Apaches, which can match the Scorpion's maneuverability and firepower, to stand a better chance against the cartel and Stoller.
Preston is enlisted in the Apache air-to-air combat training program led by flight instructor Brad Little (Tommy Lee Jones) and encounters Billie Lee Guthrie (Sean Young), his ex-girlfriend who broke off their relationship to pursue a separate career flying the OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter, and has been assigned to assist the Apaches as their target designator and spotter. Preston's arrogance and loose improvised style earns him the respect and chagrin of Little, who helps him overcome an ocular dominance disability that interferes with the Apache's visual input.
The Drug Enforcement Administration leads a mission to apprehend the cartel's leaders, and the Apache team deploys to South America to assist them. However, their base is attacked and an Apache is destroyed, while another Apache stays behind to cover the DEA team, leaving only Preston, Little, and Guthrie to search for Stoller. Little and Guthrie locate and engage Stoller, who is supported by a pair of Saab 35 Draken fighter jets, but Little is shot down and survives, while Guthrie is targeted by Stoller. However, Preston reaches them in time and engages Stoller, who he tricks using a mountain into exposing himself to be shot down and killed, while Guthrie uses missiles from Little's downed Apache to shoot down the remaining enemy aircraft. With the cartel's air supremacy lost, they are left vulnerable for the task force to arrest their leaders and defeat the cartel. As Little is medically evacuated, he expresses pride in both Preston and Guthrie.