'Top Gun: Maverick': From Su-57 to F/A-18 Super Hornet, here are all fighter jets appearing in sequel
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, the sequel to the 1986 movie ‘Top Gun’, will see Tom Cruise’s Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell back in the cockpit to train a new group of elite pilots. Maverick has been given orders to train these pilots for an important mission that will test their endurance, mental strength, and how well they fly these things.
The original movie featured legendary fighter jets such as F-14 Tomcat, A-4 Skyhawk, and MIG-28. However, it is believed that MIG-28 never existed and it was actually an F-5E Tiger II fighter jet. With the sequel releasing this Friday, let’s take a look at the fighter jets that are being used this time around.
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Sukhoi Su-57 Felon
This Russian-made beast is a single-seat, twin-engine stealth multirole aircraft developed by Sukhoi. The fighter jet is capable of aerial combat as well as ground and maritime strike. It also incorporates stealth, supermaneuverability, integrated avionics, and substantial internal payload capacity.
Mainly there are three variants of the aircraft: Su-57, Su-57E, and Su-57M. The fighter is expected to have a service life of up to 35 years.
F/A-18 Super Hornet
The original movie used F-14 Tomcat, but the aircraft retired in 2006. This means that Maverick would need a new ride this time around and it's the marvelous F/A-18E Super Hornet. The fighter jet is a twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft that can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons.
The best thing about this aircraft is that additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks. Apart from that, the jet can also be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external air-to-air refueling system. As of now, the aircraft is being operated by Australia, Kuwait, and the USA. Meanwhile, countries such as Germany, India, Malaysia, Spain, and Switzerland might become potential operators in the near future.
Super Hornets come in two variants: a single-seater and a two-seater.
F-35C Lightning II
The appearance of this aircraft was confirmed by the crew of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. They got a closer look at the aircraft while they were aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning has larger wings than F-35A. It also features larger control surfaces for improved low-speed control, stronger landing gear for the stresses of carrier arrested landings, a twin-wheel nose gear, and a stronger tail hook.
The fighter jet also provides ISTAR capabilities, along with electronic warfare. As of now, no country uses the F-35C version of the aircraft but the US is planning to include it in the force in the coming future.
As far as F-35A and F-35 B are concerned, countries like Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the USA are using them.
Lockheed Martin SR-72
Now, this is one of the fighter jets that are currently in the design proposal stage. Often referred to as the “Son of Blackbird”, SR-72 is a hypersonic UAV concept intended for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Lockheed privately proposed for it in 2013 and will serve as a successor to the retired Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
In 2017, Lockheed Martin announced that it is planning to have SR-72 in development by the early 2020s. Its top speed is in excess of Mach 6. The prototype of the aircraft, that’s capable of firing hypersonic missiles, might be having its first flight by 2025.
F-14 Tomcat
How can we forget this iconic plane? Even though ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ will feature a whole lot of new planes, the movie will also feature the iconic F-14 Tomcat fight jet that was the center of attraction in the original movie. We can confirm that in the movie, it will go up against Su-57. It was introduced in the US Navy in 1974 and retired on September 26, 2006.
It was the carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. It had three variants: F-14A, F-14B, and F-14D. Apart from the USA, Iran also used this aircraft.
You can see these flying beasts in 'Top Gun: Maverick' released on Friday, May 27th.
