Air Force One is a 1997 thriller starring Harrison Ford as James Marshall, the President of United States, who finds himself the only one who can stop the terrorists who have hijacked the Presidential airliner. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire) and is distinctive to movie gun enthusiasts for being the first documented film to feature the M4A1 Carbine.
The following weapons were used in the film Air Force One:
Secret Service Agent Gibbs (Xander Berkeley) uses a Beretta 92FS fitted with a suppressor to execute the Secret Service Agents guarding the armory. Some of the other Secret Service Agents on board Air Force One also use them, even though in real life the Beretta has never been issued to the Secret Service. There is an interesting continuity error in the film, where Agent Walters (Glenn Morshower) (who is trying to evacuate President Marshall via the escape pod) switches from a SIG P226 to a Beretta 92FS (see below).
N.B. USSS Agent Gibbs shares the name of the NCIS Special Agent Gibbs (portrayed by Mark Harmon) on the TV series NCIS and the series premiere "Yankee White" (S1E01) has the agent investigating a possible terrorist sleeper aboard Air Force One, and a few references to this film are made during the episode.
The Secret Service Agents on Air Force One are armed mostly with SIG-Sauer P226 pistols. When the terrorists take over the plane, many of them also use these pistols; Ivan Korshunov carries a P226, which he is commonly seen using to threaten and/or execute hostages. Later in the film, Agent Gibbs is also seen using one.
In real life, the Secret Service would have been using the smaller SIG P228 and P229 at the time of the film's production.
When Secret Service Agent Gibbs (Xander Berkeley) opens up the weapons storage cabinet on Air Force One for Ivan Korshunov's (Gary Oldman's) Russian Ultranationalists, the terrorists get their hands on a number of Heckler & Koch MP5A3 submachine guns. President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) also uses one of these weapons after taking it from one of the terrorists, and both Agent Gibbs and Major Caldwell (William H. Macy) also handle these weapons.
The MP5A3s used in this movie are the same partially-converted HK94A3 carbines from the Stembridge Gun Rentals inventory that have appeared in numerous other motion pictures (including Predator, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, etc.). Throughout the movie, close-ups of the guns reveal that they have the all-metal 0-1 trigger group of the HK94 (with a "2" position for full-auto engraved), as well as barrels that are missing the attachment lugs (for bayonets, flash hiders, and other accessories). IMFDB's exclusive picture of a "mock MP5" (seen below) is believed to be one of the actual screen-used weapons from Air Force One (though we haven't been able to confirm, since there's no record of the exact serial numbers for all of the weapons that Stembridge sent out to the production).
A single Heckler & Koch MP5K is among the weapons taken by the terrorists from the weapons cabinet. President Marshall also uses this weapon at one point in the film, and it is also picked up by his wife Grace (Wendy Crewson) while Marshall and Korshunov are fighting. The MP5K used on the plane is a genuine MP5K (or at least, a full-conversion), unlike the terrorists' MP5A3s (which are partially-converted HK94s) and the special forces soldiers' own MP5Ks (which seem to be partially-converted SP89s).
The special forces soldiers who capture General Radek are all armed with suppressed MP5Ks, but they all appear to be partially-converted Heckler & Koch SP89s (or at least, the one used by the team leader definitely is an SP89). Maybe the armorers didn't have access to the MP5K used later in the film when this scene was filmed.
During the opening scene at the Presidential Palace in Kazakhstan, General Ivan Radek's (Jürgen Prochnow's) military guards are seen using Norinco Type 56-1 assault rifles which have been fitted with AKM-style muzzle brakes (customary for many of the Hollywood Chinese AKs, even though these were not factory-standard). These weapons are also seen in the hands of security officers at Sheremetyevo Airport, which is highly inaccurate.
The terrorists also take several M4A1 Carbines from the weapons cabinet, all of which have had their carry handles removed and replaced with C-More C-TAC red dot sights (essentially a C-More competition red dot sight fitted into a chopped M4 carry handle, with A2 rear sight left intact). The weapons also feature a laser sight attached to the barrel, which appears to be the same type found on the Mossberg 590 shotgun used in Broken Arrow. Ivan Korshunov uses this weapon when the terrorists first start to take control of the plane, firing in vain at the cockpit door at one point. This weapon is also fired by Andrei Kolchak (Elya Baskin). Later in the film, Major Caldwell (William H. Macy) can briefly be seen wielding Korshunov's M4 when President Marshall is running back to the cockpit to call off Radek's release.
It appears that Air Force One is the very first Hollywood film to feature the flattop M4 carbine that is so familiar to American audiences today.
A Colt Model 727 carbine with an M203 grenade launcher is carried by one of the Air Force rescue team officers who is sent to retrieve President Marshall's escape pod. It can be noted as an older Model 727 and not one of the aforementioned M4A1s due to the older-type fixed carry handle upper receiver.
When General Radek is about to be released from prison, several of his troops land at the front gate in an Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship and then line up to greet him. All of them are seen carrying an AK variation similar to the short-barreled AK used by Art Malik in True Lies (which is almost certainly not a coincidence because Harry Lu was the armorer on both movies). The only difference between these rifles have been fitted with side-folding stocks (which appear to have been borrowed from Hungarian AMD-65s).
The guards at the Russian prison fire at General Radek as he flees with AKM rifles, which may be correct because prison guards are considered rear echelon troops.
The cache of weapons aboard the Air Force One is revealed when USSS Agent Gibbs takes a smoke grenade out. This set was later revisited in the premiere episode of NCIS "Yankee White" (though it had a different design in the series). Characters also make a few references to this film during the episode.
At one point in the film, a flight of F-15 Eagles are scrambled to protect Air Force One. While missiles are mainly used, the F-15s are armed with M61 Vulcan cannons as their secondary armament.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM61 Vulcan - 20mmError creating thumbnail: File missingAt one point in the film, a flight of F-15 Eagles are scrambled to protect Air Force One. While missiles are mainly used, the F-15s are armed with M61 Vulcan cannons as their secondary armament. Also not that while stated to be from Ramstein Air Base in Germany in the film, the "EG" on their tails actually refers to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1
At one point in the film, several MiG-29 Fulcrums piloted by renegades loyal to General Radek intercept and engage Air Force One and the F-15s protecting it, the MiGs armed with Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 cannons as their secondary weapons. The MiGs fire their guns several times, causing heavy damage to Air Force One.
