Top Gun: Maverick used Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets because the filmmakers wanted real cockpit footage with actors experiencing actual flight. The two-seat F/A-18F let a qualified naval aviator fly while an actor sat behind them. Navy technical adviser Capt. JJ “Yank” Cummings also cited limits on F-35 access and camera placement, plus a mismatch between the film’s proposed low-altitude strike and the F-35 mission scenario he described.
Why the Super Hornet worked for filming
The production wanted actors in real aircraft, rather than relying entirely on simulated cockpit footage. The F/A-18F’s two seats made that arrangement possible: a naval aviator flew from the front cockpit while an actor rode in the rear. The Navy’s account confirms that Tom Cruise did not pilot the aircraft.
Navy support helped make the footage possible. Fleet Readiness Center Southwest says its teams designed and installed cockpit camera mounts, prepared and painted a Super Hornet, and devoted more than 1,000 hours to production support in 2022. The work took place over approximately eight months and across several locations. NAVAIR’s account of the production support describes the effort.
Why the F-35 was not used for the same cockpit scenes
Cummings said the production initially wanted F-35s, but that access limits and camera restrictions made filming with them impractical. He described the F-35 as a single-seat aircraft, leaving no rear cockpit for an actor to occupy alongside a pilot. His explanation was about the production’s access and filming needs, not a general claim that an F-35 could never be filmed or used in a strike.
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In a 2022 GQ interview, Cummings summed up the constraint this way: “If you want F-35s in this movie it’s going to be all CGI and like Iron Eagle 7 or something because you can’t put anyone in it.” That was his colorful description of the production problem, not formal Navy policy language.
Why the fictional mission matters
There was also a story-specific reason. Cummings said the screenplay’s proposed low-altitude strike did not fit the F-35’s intended mission profile as he described it, and that the Navy would not approve that depiction. He characterized the F-35 as designed to strike air-to-air and air-to-ground targets undetected at high altitude. This is an adviser’s explanation of a screenplay choice, not a complete technical comparison of the two aircraft.
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The distinction matters: the adviser’s objection concerned the particular low-altitude mission scenario written for the movie. The F-35’s absence is not evidence that it cannot carry out air-to-ground strikes.
How the aircraft choice compares on the film’s needs
| Film-related need | F/A-18F Super Hornet | F-35 |
|---|---|---|
| Actor riding with a pilot | Two seats; a naval aviator could fly in front with an actor in the rear cockpit. | Single-seat, according to the Navy adviser and Navy aviators interviewed; no second cockpit for an actor. |
| Cockpit camera access | Navy teams installed cockpit camera mounts for the production. | Cummings said access and camera restrictions made it impractical for the production. |
| Fit with the screenplay’s mission | Used for the film’s proposed low-altitude strike scenario. | Cummings said that specific low-altitude mission did not fit the aircraft’s intended profile as he described it. |
The Department of the Navy’s CHIPS search-result summary says the publicly released scripted-production agreement granted access to Navy bases, stations, vessels, and approved internal and external camera placement on F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. That summary supports the broad point that filming access was arranged for the Super Hornets; it does not establish further contract details.
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What the choice does—and does not—say
The film’s use of Super Hornets reflects a combination of practical filming access, the two-seat arrangement, and the particular mission written into the story. It should not be read as a claim that the F/A-18 is categorically better than the F-35. The production decision answers why those aircraft were useful for this movie; it is not a performance ranking.
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