Discover all the aircraft featured in Top Gun Maverick in our comprehensive guide: specifications, roles in the film, and technical details.

The “Top Gun” franchise is obviously a work of fiction set in a universe where naval regulations and even geopolitics are very different (the conclusion of the first film would probably have triggered a new world war otherwise). In this trailer alone, you’ll find a good reason why Pete “Maverick” Mitchell would not be allowed to fly in the US Navy in our world, as he blatantly violates one of the most fundamental principles of fighter pilot training, the 1,000-foot safety “bubble” of empty space maintained around each fighter during training engagements, while he is performing.

But even if the rules don’t seem to apply to Mav and the physics of this universe seem to allow certain maneuvers that ours would strictly prohibit… aviation fans like us are really looking forward to seeing this movie. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a big-budget action movie focused on real-world tactical aircraft and the incredible men and women tasked with flying them to the limits of human and technological capabilities. “Top Gun” (the movies) may not be real, but the fighter jets these pilots take into combat are, and movies like this give us a glimpse into the incredible world of combat aviation—even if it comes with a certain amount of ironic exaggeration.
The first Top Gun featured very real fighter jets (even if some were fictional).

U.S. Navy F-14D

The first Top Gun was more than just a blockbuster movie; it also marked the beginning of a golden age of recruitment for the U.S. Navy aviation. The film was so successful in convincing young Americans to fly fighter jets that some recruiters even set up tables outside movie theaters to talk to viewers after the film. The appeal of the F-14 Tomcat’s incredible performance alone was enough to inspire many future aviators to consider joining the Navy.

The Tomcat’s rival in the film, however, was not as real as the F-14A. The MiG-28 Maverick it faced, sporting black paint and an apparently Soviet red star on its tail, never actually existed.

The fighter jets in Top Gun Maverick

The MiG-28

Okay, that’s not entirely true: the plane you see depicted as the MiG-28 in “Top Gun” is a real plane, but it’s not a MiG. In fact, it’s not even Russian. It’s actually another fighter from the US arsenal, the Northrop F-5 Tiger II.

Northrop F-5E Tiger II

Clearly, Paramount Pictures couldn’t get its hands on a real MiG-29, which was designed to take on high-performance American fighters such as the F-14, and at a time when visual effects couldn’t turn just about anything into reality, they needed a worthy opponent. Compared to the massive and powerful F-14, the small and agile F-5 airframe was an excellent response to the Maverick’s brute force.

“Top Gun: Maverick” will feature a fifth-generation Russian fighter jet, the Su-57.

This time around, it looks like Maverick and the rest of the Navy crew in “Top Gun: Maverick” will be up against a real foreign aircraft, the Sukhoi Su-57, NATO code name Felon. We previously reported that this seemed likely, based on toy lines that hit stores ahead of the film’s original June 2020 release date. Of course, as in the first film, the filmmakers were unable to get their hands on a real Su-57—after all, Russia only has 14 in total—and so the villainous stealth aircraft is a CGI reconstruction.

It’s highly likely that “Top Gun: Maverick” will portray the Su-57 as a formidable enemy, perhaps even a formidable adversary for Maverick and company’s F/A-18 Super Hornets. This would fit perfectly with the popular perception of this aircraft, even if it doesn’t necessarily correspond to the mediocre reality of the Felon.

As we have mentioned in the past, the Su-57 is easily the worst fifth-generation fighter in the world, thanks in large part to Russia’s struggles to develop the means to mass-produce aircraft with the incredibly tight production tolerances required for radar-evading jets.

The aircraft was originally a joint venture between the Russian and Indian governments, but India withdrew from the program in 2018 as rumors circulated that the new fighter (known at the time as the PAK FA) simply wasn’t stealthy enough to justify its expense. To that end, expert assessments have placed the Su-57’s radar cross section at around 0.5 square meters — about 5,000 times larger than the F-22 Raptor, and almost on par with the new F/A-18 Super Hornet from Maverick.

The entire Russian Su-57 fleet consists of only 12 hand-built prototypes and just two production fighters. Russia would have had three today, but the first Su-57 to roll off the Sukhoi production line crashed on its maiden flight.

Stealth issues are not the only problem with the Su-57—delays in Russia’s 5th-generation engine program have meant that the Felon fleet uses the same AL-41F1 engines as the 4th-generation Su-35S, which are not stealthy but highly capable. An analysis by the Rand Corporation of the aircraft’s advanced 360-degree sensor suite indicates that the system itself remains incomplete, likely due to international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and these problems will certainly be exacerbated by tougher sanctions and financial penalties imposed on the nation following its recent large-scale invasion of the same nation.

However, despite the Su-57’s problems, it should be remembered that Russian air warfare doctrine does not rely as heavily on stealth as that of the United States, and that the Su-57 remains extremely difficult to detect when approaching head-on, as would be the case during a fighter interception. Add to this thrust vector control, which allows for fantastic maneuverability once targeted, and a thrust-to-weight ratio roughly comparable to that of the Super Hornet, and it is clear that the Su-57 would be a match for virtually any 4th generation fighter.
The Su-57 is said to be capable of reaching a maximum speed of around Mach 2 and can carry six weapons internally without compromising its stealth profile.

Maverick’s new fighter jet is an F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The original “Top Gun” movie may have left moviegoers nostalgic for the F-14 cockpit, but with the retirement of the Tomcat in 2006, Maverick’s five-decade career now puts him behind the stick of the Navy’s F/A-18E Super Hornet.

The Super Hornet is the direct successor to the famous F/A-18 Hornet, but despite their similarities, the Super Hornet is virtually an entirely different aircraft. With a 20% larger airframe, the Super Hornet carries 33% more fuel and burns it more efficiently, giving it 41% more range or 50% more endurance (the ability to remain in combat without refueling). It can carry 15,000 pounds more than its predecessor, allowing for a host of avionics upgrades, and its upgraded General Electric F414 engines (an upgrade over the Hornet’s F404s) provide 35% more thrust over most of the aircraft’s flight envelope.

In other words, Boeing took a very capable aircraft and made it significantly better. As we’ve already mentioned, the Super Hornet is believed to have a radar cross section of between 0.5 and 1 square meter, which puts it not far behind the Russian Su-57 in a head-to-head comparison. However, the Super Hornet has to carry its munitions externally, which will certainly make it much easier to spot on radar than the Felon.

The Super Hornet, or Rhino as it is known to Navy pilots due to its heavier weight and the rhino-like protrusion from the front of the fighter’s radome, has been described as an “80% solution” to the long list of problems encountered by the Navy at the end of the F-14’s service life. It didn’t have the power, speed, or range of the Tomcat, but with a top speed of Mach 1.5 and enough hardpoints to carry 11 weapons (five more than the Su-57 in stealth mode), it proved to be a highly capable multirole fighter. In fact, it was a Navy pilot aboard a Super Hornet who scored America’s only air-to-air kill in decades when he shot down a Syrian Su-22 in 2018.

“Top Gun: Maverick” will also feature the F-35C.

Another assumption we were able to make thanks to the Matchbox toy range has apparently been confirmed by Paramount film crews working aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: “Top Gun: Maverick” will most likely feature Lockheed Martin’s F-35C.

The F-35C is the carrier-based version of the stealth attack aircraft. It has a larger wing area than its counterparts, a more robust landing gear and, of course, the hook needed to land on an aircraft carrier. This additional wing area allows for slower approaches to the carrier, but it also offers the advantage of additional internal fuel storage, giving the carrier version of the JSF more than 8% more fuel than the Air Force version, which relies on the runway, and 35% more fuel than the short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B used by the Marine Corps.

The F-35C is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 afterburning turbojet engine capable of reaching an impressive 43,000 pounds of thrust in afterburner, and its radar cross section is tiny (although larger than that of the F-22), at approximately 0.0015 square meters. However, it can only carry four internal weapons while maintaining a stealth profile, and due to the risk of damage to its radar-absorbing coating, this jet is largely limited to subsonic speeds, except in emergencies. If called upon to do so, the F-35C could potentially beat the Super Hornet in a race, with a top speed of Mach 1.6, but at the cost of some of its low observability (its radar-absorbing coating begins to crack and flake off under the intense heat caused by air friction at these speeds).

But what the F-35C lacks in old-fashioned combat power, it more than makes up for with incredible data fusion and computing power. The F-35 offers superior situational awareness to any other tactical aircraft on the planet, extracting data from a wide variety of ground, sea, air, and even space-based sensors and merging it into a single, easy-to-navigate display directly in the pilot’s field of view. In a very real sense, flying the F-35 is almost like playing a video game, with red squares around the bad guys, green squares around the good guys, and a variety of real-time data displayed both on a head-up display and on the aircraft’s huge touchscreen console.

The F-35 is widely regarded as a “quarterback in the sky” thanks to its immense computing power, which gives it a complete view of the combat space, which F-35 pilots then use to improve the awareness of all friendly aircraft in the area. The F-35 increases the information level of all friendly assets, making its fourth-generation wingmen more lethal than they could otherwise be.

The Su-57 may be a little stealthier than the Super Hornet, but compared to the F-35, the Felon might as well be a flashing light. How this aircraft will fit into the dogfights we’ll see in “Top Gun: Maverick” remains to be seen, but it will likely fly in support of Mav and his friends in their Rhinos.

The crazy-looking jet seen in some trailers is called “DarkStar” and could be a hypersonic clone of the SR-72.
Here’s another sneak peek we found in the toy section of our local Carrefour. The DarkStar aircraft, which is briefly seen at the end of some of the movie trailers, is clearly not based on any aircraft in service today… but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a similar platform in the real world.

Based on the shock wave visible as the jet passes in the trailer, it seems likely that this exotic-looking aircraft introduces hypersonic platforms to the Top Gun universe. Supersonic aircraft (such as the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Super Hornet from Top Gun) are capable of flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). Hypersonic aircraft travel much faster—more than Mach 5, or about 3,838 miles per hour.

As we pointed out in a previous article, “Top Gun: Maverick” bears a striking resemblance to Lockheed Martin’s SR-72, the successor to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird.

The SR-72 is supposed to be a hypersonic aircraft capable of reaching Mach 6 thanks to a dual-mode ramjet propulsion system, which is reminiscent of Hermeus’ more recent efforts to bring a Mach 5 passenger aircraft into service. Like the (perhaps overhyped) hypersonic missiles being developed by countries such as China, Russia, and the US, vehicles traveling at these incredible speeds would be nearly impossible to intercept with existing air defense technologies.

Lockheed Martin confirmed that engine tests had already taken place for the SR-72 in 2018. In fact, the Air Force announced that it was working on a small-scale technology demonstrator as early as 2013, but despite Lockheed Martin’s very optimistic statements over the years, no actual SR-72 has ever appeared (at least to the public’s knowledge). Darkstar certainly appears to be based on Lockheed Martin’s concept art for the SR-72, suggesting that it may also be capable of reaching hypersonic speeds.

There are a few differences between the two—most notably the use of two vertical stabilizing fins at the rear of the “Darkstar,” whereas there is only a single central stabilizer on the SR-72. However, as the Lockheed Martin image is nothing more than a concept drawing, the final platform (if it ever materializes) could have either.

Maverick’s P-51 Mustang actually belongs to Tom Cruise

The P-51 Mustang featured in “Top Gun: Maverick” actually belongs to Tom Cruise.
“Top Gun: Maverick” not only features new fighter jets and aircraft, it also features Tom Cruise’s personally owned P-51 Mustang.

It is actually possible to buy these incredible World War II-era fighter jets, although they typically cost between $2.5 million and $4 million each… So how Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell was able to afford one on his active duty Navy salary is a complete mystery (it’s probably classified). Tom’s was a gift from his then-wife, Katie Holmes, so maybe Mav has a well-funded girlfriend too.

The North American P-51 Mustang took to the skies in 1940 and, although it was an American aircraft, it was put into service by the British Royal Air Force in 1942. However, it did not see combat until 1943. It quickly proved to be an extremely effective bomber escort, and in 1944, Major General James Doolittle (who made his name in the Doolittle Raid) changed US air doctrine to send these high-performance fighters far ahead of the bombers to hunt down German aircraft, rather than keeping them in close formation with the bombers they were supporting.

The P-51D Mustang, with its legendary 1,490 horsepower Merlin engine, was the most famous iteration of the aircraft, combining its acrobatic performance with exceptional range. This was a game changer for the Allies, who had suffered heavy losses on bombing missions over the European theater up to that point. With a top speed of 437 miles per hour, six .50 caliber machine guns, and the ability to carry ten 5″ rockets (or 2,000 pounds of bombs), the P-51 gave the Allies an aircraft capable of standing up to the advanced German fighters of the day. By the end of the war, the P-51 Mustang would be credited with an astonishing 5,000 enemy aircraft kills.

The P-51 Mustang featured in “Top Gun: Maverick” is not a P-51D, but rather a P-51K (different propeller and canopy shape), but that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

The king is back in “Top Gun: Maverick” – The Grumman F-14 Tomcat

While Tom Cruise headlined the first film, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the real star. Now, it looks like the F-14 is making a comeback in “Top Gun: Maverick,” and in what could be the craziest split second you’ll find on TV today, it could go head-to-head with Russia’s Su-57.

Despite a rocky start and engine problems throughout most of its service life, the F-14 was a marvel of Cold War technology. With a top speed of over Mach 2.3 and the ability to carry six huge AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles into combat, the Tomcat was designed to dominate the skies hundreds of miles around carrier strike groups, engaging Soviet bombers at three-digit distances.

The Tomcat was such an incredible aircraft that a proposal to redesign the platform as the ASF-14 Super Tomcat would very likely have kept it at the top of the 4th generation fighter pile well into the modern era. Its variable-sweep wing design gave it excellent maneuverability, both at the low speeds required for carrier landings and at the high speeds needed to intercept Ivan before it could deploy its anti-ship missiles toward a US carrier.

When the F-14 Tomcat entered service, it was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney TF30 engines that had been designed for the F-111B, which was more of a multirole bomber than a fighter. Each engine could produce 14,560 pounds of thrust in military mode, with afterburner boosting the power to 25,100 pounds. These engines were powerful but highly problematic, resulting in the loss of 40 Tomcats over the years. Eventually, the TF30 engines were replaced by General Electric F110-GE-400 engines, which effectively solved all of the TF30’s problems, but many F-14s continued to use the older engines well into the 2000s.

How would an old F-14 fare in a dogfight against the latest and greatest fighter Russia has to offer? It’s hard to say. The F-14’s variable-sweep wing design is a relic from a pre-stealth era, and the aircraft is believed to have a radar cross-section comparable to that of the still-flying F-15.

That may not sound too bad… but it is. The F-15 is renowned for its huge radar cross section—larger, in fact, than that of the high-payload B-1B Lancer bomber, at 25 square meters (larger than the aircraft itself). Suffice it to say that the Su-57 would see the Tomcat coming long before the Tomcat’s massive AN/AWG-9 radar could see the Felon.

The F-14’s AIM-54 Phoenix missiles were designed for air combat and can reach their 160 km range extremely quickly thanks to a top speed of Mach 4.3… but these weapons were designed to shoot down Soviet bombers, not highly maneuverable fighters. Russian avionics may be outdated, but the F-14 has been out of service for 16 years, so this time around, the Russians would likely have the technological advantage.