Fact1: Moore is engineer developing targeting system on tank for United States Army, Fact2: XM-10 Annihilator is equipped with Cooper 's system, Fact3: Cooper and Landry never interact during film, Fact4: decisions made by Cooper affect Landry 's tank, Fact5: cut scene was edited out from final film
Output: The movie takes place as two parallel plots separated by a couple of years: In 1982, Wylie Cooper Moore is an engineer developing a targeting system on a tank for the United States Army. In 1984, Murphy is US Army Lt. T.M. Landry, an American tank commander sent to Kuwait to demonstrate XM10 Annihilator, Americas latest main battle tank, which is equipped with Coopers system. Because of the tanks poor design and shoddy construction, Landry and his crew are barely able to control or navigate the XM10 before it leaves the proving grounds and wanders into a combat zone during Iraqs invasion of Kuwait an unintentional foreshadowing of the Gulf War that occurred six years after the release of the film. Cooper and Landry never directly interact during the film, but the plot shows how the decisions made by Cooper affect Landrys tank. A cut scene showed both Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy together, but was edited out from the final film. Cooper, an engineer for a troubled defense contractor, is in charge of designing the DYPgyro, a gyroscope for the armys new tank. The companys future hinges on the success of the project. Coopers gyro fails a crucial test, dooming the company. Downtrodden, Cooper later crosses paths with another engineer named Frank Holtzman Noonan who has also designed a DYPgyro. Holtzman, fearful of what will happen in his meeting with Jeff, secretly hides the plans in Coopers briefcase. After Holtzman is murdered, Cooper discovers the plans. Coopers coworker and best friend Steve Loparino Dzundza later puts Coopers name on the plans, and when the new gyro works, Cooper is hailed for saving the company. In 1984, Landrys tank comes under fire from Iraqi jets, leading Landry to plead that he doesnt belong in this war, shouting Im from Cleveland! at the attacking planes. Back in 1982, Cooper is contacted by Jeff Rasche, a deepcover KGB agent who tries to obtain the DYP plans. The FBI, knowing that Cooper took credit for somebody elses work, forces him to act as bait for Jeff in a setup operation. The setup nearly fails  Jeff is killed during a gun battle, and Cooper himself is shot. Realizing his mortality while being put on an ambulance, Cooper confesses to Clair Shaver, an attractive coworker, that he stole the DYP. This triggers an angry response from Clair and also from his wife Laura Capshaw who, arriving on the scene, realizes that Cooper has been cheating on her. Surviving the bullet, Cooper receives even worse news from a coworker: the DYPgyro he claimed credit for wont work, because it will cause overheating in the WAM, another critical component, crippling the tanks fire control and, in a combat situation, dooming the tank. The film reaches its climax in a sequence weaving between 1982 when a more conscientious Cooper, having recovered, confronts his employers about the flaws in the DYP, while in 1984, Landry attempts to fire the main gun while under attack by an Iraqi gunship. As had been predicted, the DYP causes failure in the WAM, suggesting that Wylies protest was ignored. Instead, the camera cuts to the innards and shows that the DYP has been redesigned according to an idea that Cooper had in 1982 while fixing one of his sons toys. The redesign works, enabling the tanks air defense rockets to launch and destroy the Iraqi gunship. The film ends with Cooper and Landry as heroes in their respective jobs.