Tom Cruise Teases “Top Gun 2” Movie With An F/A-18F Super Hornet Photo

May 31, 2018 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

Looks like Top Gun sequel may feature the Super Hornet instead of the F-35.

Tom Cruise has just teased the long-awaited Top Gun movie sequel (expected in July 2019) with an interesting photo posted on Twitter with the text “Feel the need” and #Day1. The image, that marks the beginning of filming and production work, shows U.S. Navy pilot Capt. Pete Mitchell, wearing the flight suit with a TOPGUN patch on his shoulder and what appears to be an F/A-18F Super Hornet in the background. This seems to suggest “Maverick” retains a pilot role (and possibly he’s still assigned to the U.S. Navy Naval Fighter Weapons School even though the patch may only mean he graduated there) and that he flies the Super Hornet and not an F-35C, the U.S. Navy’s most modern aircraft, as most had predicted.

Since the first movie was released back in the 1980s, TOPGUN has moved from Miramar to NAS Fallon, Nevada even though, according to our friends at Combat Aircraft  the trees in the shot suggest that the photo wasn’t taken at the base home of the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, near Reno.

One thing worth noticing is the fact that “Mav” has his famous HGU-33 helmet in his hand even though that kind of old-fashioned helmet has long been replaced within the U.S. Navy and other air arms around the world by the more modern Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System or HGU-68/P helmets.

 

We will keep you updated as more details on Top Gun 2 emerge.

About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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5 Comments

  2. Wow, haters be hating. It’s a movie, well sort of. These days they are more like glorified roller coaster rides.

  3. Why bring the F-35 as a topic? Freaking expensive to use a a movie tool, not to mention that you need the drama of a backseater.

  4. Hope they film it in IMAX 3D!

    For those who love the F/A-18C, DCS World released yesterday they simulator alpha version, and is superb!

  5. I don’t know why everyone expected the F-35C. The plane has barely entered service and hasn’t proven anything except that it costs too much. It’s also got many features that the Navy would likely want to keep classified. Hopefully, it’ll make a background appearance, at least.

    The F/A-18E/F, on the other hand, has been the Navy’s mainstay since the F-14 was retired. It’s a superb aircraft that’s only getting better with time. The new Block III variant amounts to a ‘Super’ Super Hornet that has capabilities and a weapons load even the F-35C won’t be able to match.

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