* *Hollywood action director Michael Bay enlisted the U.S. military to provide realistic props for his 2007 giant-robot epic Transformers. After the Pentagon helped rewrite the script, Bay got access to helicopters, warships and – for just $25,000 an hour – F-22 stealth fighters.

As we speak, Bay is shooting a sequel that has even more U.S. military hardware on display, according to USA Today. The director set up shop at White Sands, a test range in New Mexico, standing in for Egypt, where the new movie's climactic battle takes place. "As far as I know, this is the biggest joint military operation movie ever made," said Bay's liaison officer from the Army.

The list of military assets for the White Sands shoot included:

two A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" tank-killing jets; six F-16 Fighting Falcons; 10 armored Humvees; the Army's Golden Knights parachute team; two Abrams tanks; two Bradley tanks; two missile-launcher vehicles; two armored personnel carriers; and a quarter-mile of the missile testing range, cleared of unexploded ordnance ...

Plus, an F-22, apparently from the new Raptor base at nearby Holloman, buzzed overhead, playing the role of Transformers bad guy Starscream.

"So many people are firing so many guns that civilian crew workers go through between shots, gathering up buckets full of empty brass shell casings," the newspaper reported.

One new villain for Transformers 2 is Long Haul, the robot version of a 700-ton Caterpillar dump truck that is one of the biggest land vehicles in the world.

[PHOTO: Air Force]