China's state broadcaster is facing questions after internet users spotted that footage in a report on air force manoeuvres in a national newscast was taken from the 1980s Hollywood film Top Gun.

China Central Television, or CCTV, aired the footage in a January 23 report on a People's Liberation Army Air Force training exercise, showing a plane firing a missile at another.

The footage side-by-side.

The second aircraft plane was destroyed in a fiery explosion, and the dramatic footage was shown in between interviews with air force officers.

However, some internet users recognised the explosion from the dogfight in the final scene of the 1986 film "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise.