People get this wrong constantly. You search for the "Tom Cruise Air Force movie" and you're immediately hit with a wall of posters featuring a sweating, grinning Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. But here’s the thing: Maverick is a Navy Captain. Those jets? They take off from carriers, not runways in the middle of a desert.
It’s an easy mistake to make. If it has a cockpit and a canopy, most people just default to the Air Force. But the distinction actually matters for why these movies—specifically Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick—became such cultural juggernauts.
The Confusion Behind the Tom Cruise Air Force Movie Search
Why do we all think it’s the Air Force? Well, Tom Cruise actually did play a character in the Army once (Born on the Fourth of July), and he’s been in plenty of sci-fi flicks with fictional military branches. But the Top Gun franchise is 100% focused on the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program. That is what "TOPGUN" actually is.
The Navy and the Air Force are basically siblings that constantly try to outdo each other. The Air Force handles land-based operations and strategic bombing. The Navy? They’re the ones landing high-performance machinery on a "postage stamp" in the middle of the ocean. Cruise chose the Navy because, frankly, carrier aviation is more cinematic. It’s louder. It’s more dangerous. It’s got that visceral "catapult" launch that makes for incredible IMAX footage.
When you look for a Tom Cruise Air Force movie, you’re usually looking for that specific brand of high-octane adrenaline that Maverick delivered in 2022. But if you want to be a stickler at your next trivia night, remember: if they’re wearing "whites" or "khakis" and talking about "the boat," it’s the Navy.
What Tom Cruise Actually Flew (and Didn't Fly)
In the original 1986 film, it was all about the F-14 Tomcat. That plane is a legend. It has those sweeping wings that move back and forth, making it look like a bird of prey. By the time Top Gun: Maverick rolled around, the Tomcat was long retired from U.S. service.
So, Cruise moved up to the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Here is some inside baseball. Tom Cruise is a licensed pilot. He’s a legitimate aviation nut who owns a P-51 Mustang. He wanted to fly the F-18s himself for the sequel. The Navy said no. Absolutely not. You don’t just hand the keys to a $70 million supersonic jet to a civilian, even if he is the biggest movie star on the planet. Instead, the actors were in the back seats of the twin-seat "F" models.
📖 Related: Who is Really in the Enola Holmes 2 Cast? A Look at the Faces Behind the Mystery
The G-forces you see on their faces? Real.
The vomit bags they had to use between takes? Also very real.
Cruise actually designed a "flight boot camp" for the younger actors like Miles Teller and Glen Powell. They started in single-engine Cessnas, moved to aerobatic planes, then to the L-39 Albatros jet, and finally into the Super Hornets. They had to learn how to operate the cameras themselves because there was no room for a film crew in that tiny cockpit.
The Darkstar and the "Air Force" Connection
There is one part of the movie that feels very "Air Force." At the beginning of Maverick, Tom's character is a test pilot for a hypersonic plane called the Darkstar.
This is where the lines get blurry.
The Darkstar was designed with help from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. That’s the same group that built the SR-71 Blackbird, the most famous Air Force spy plane in history. Even though Maverick is a Navy guy, that experimental testing is the kind of stuff usually associated with Edwards Air Force Base. In fact, the plane looked so real that China reportedly moved a satellite to get a better look at the mock-up on the tarmac.
The Real Air Force Projects Tom Cruise Almost Did
While we associate him with the Navy, Cruise has flirted with the Air Force in development deals for decades. There were rumors for years about a film focused on the "Wild Weasels"—the guys who fly into enemy territory specifically to get targeted by radar so they can destroy the missile sites.
That never happened.
👉 See also: Priyanka Chopra Latest Movies: Why Her 2026 Slate Is Riskier Than You Think
Instead, we got American Made. In that one, Cruise plays Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who gets recruited by the CIA. He flies for everyone—the DEA, the Medellin Cartel, and he’s operating out of small strips in Arkansas. It’s not a "fighter jet" movie, but it’s the closest he’s gotten to that land-based, non-carrier aviation vibe that people associate with the Air Force.
Why Top Gun Maverick Changed the Game for Aviation Films
Before 2022, the "flying movie" was a dead genre. Everything was CGI. Think about the Green Lantern or even some of the later Fast & Furious movies—everything felt floaty and fake.
Maverick proved that people crave the real thing.
- Physicality: You can’t fake the way skin pulls back at 7Gs.
- Lighting: You can't replicate the way natural sun hits a cockpit at 30,000 feet using a green screen.
- Sound: The roar of the GE F414 engines in the movie was captured using specialized microphones placed near the exhausts.
The Navy saw a massive spike in recruitment after the movie came out, much like they did in 1986. They even set up recruitment booths outside of AMC and Regal theaters. It’s the best commercial the military never paid for.
Common Misconceptions About the Jets
Let's clear some stuff up about the hardware because the internet is full of "well, actually" guys.
The "enemy" planes in the movie are referred to as "fifth-generation fighters." They never name the country. They never name the plane. But everyone knows they are modeled after the Russian Su-57. The movie suggests the F-18 is outclassed by these planes, which is technically true in a one-on-one "dogfight" scenario involving stealth.
But the movie isn't about the tech; it's about the "man in the box."
✨ Don't miss: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
Also, that final scene involving the F-14? People call BS on that all the time. Could a 1970s era Tomcat beat a modern Su-57? Probably not. But in the world of Tom Cruise, if you're a better pilot, physics and tech specs are just suggestions.
How to Experience the "Maverick" Vibe in Real Life
If you’re obsessed with this world, you don’t have to just watch the movie on a loop. There are actual ways to get close to this.
Visit the USS Midway in San Diego. It’s a decommissioned carrier turned museum. You can walk the flight deck and see the F-14 and F-18 up close. You start to realize how cramped and dangerous that environment actually is.
Watch the Blue Angels.
The Blue Angels are the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron. They fly F/A-18 Super Hornets. If you want to see the maneuvers from the movie performed 50 feet above the ground, this is it. They tour the country every summer.
The "Mach Loop" in Wales.
If you're a real nerd, you go to the Mach Loop. It’s a series of valleys where pilots (including the RAF and the US Air Force) practice low-level flying. You can stand on a hill and look down into the cockpit of a fighter jet as it screams past.
Final Actionable Steps for Fans
Stop calling it a Tom Cruise Air Force movie—your veteran friends will thank you. If you want to dive deeper into the actual realism of these films, here is what you should do:
- Watch the "Blue Angels" documentary on Amazon Prime. It was produced by Glen Powell (Hangman) and gives you the real-world version of the training seen in the movie.
- Look up "Ward Carroll" on YouTube. He’s a former F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer (the Goose/Bob seat) who breaks down every scene in Top Gun for accuracy.
- Check out the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Udvar-Hazy Center). They have the actual F-14 used in the filming of the original movie.
The "Tom Cruise Air Force movie" might be a myth, but the impact of his Navy films is very real. They changed how movies are made and reminded everyone that sometimes, you just can't beat a real jet and a real pilot.
Whether it's the Air Force or the Navy, the goal is the same: stay fast, stay low, and don't forget to look cool doing it.