Why didn't the F-35 take on the main fighter role in Top Gun: Maverick?
Tom Cruise's new film, Top Gun: Maverick, is a lot of fun. Like its predecessors,
it gives viewers a good feel for what it's like to fly a modern fighter. Critics seem to like it
quite a bit and the current box office reception suggests that the public is liking it too.
You should see the new Top Gun movie for one additional reason. This may well be
one of the last of its genre. The introduction of fifth-generation stealth aircraft, the increasing
sophistication of electronic warfare systems, and the proliferation of advanced unmanned systems,
long-range precision missiles, and hypersonic weapons will change the character of the future
struggle for air superiority. The days of engaging in visual range with planes blasting each other
with cannons are almost over. So is the need to fly into ground-based air defense gear.
The main factor that changed the nature of air operations was the emergence of the so-called
fifth-generation fighter aircraft. The US is leading the world in the deployment of
fifth-generation aircraft with the F-22 and, most significantly, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
This aircraft not only deployed with the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps but quickly
became the Free World's top-of-the-line fighter. Ironically, the Russian version
of the stealth aircraft, the Su-57, actually makes a significant appearance in the film.
One of the most important features of Top Gun is the absence (more than a few seconds
at the start of the film) of the F-35C, the Navy's premier fifth-generation aircraft.
The new aircraft are currently stationed on the carrier. Several C variants are also flown by the
Marine Corps along with the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, the F-35B.
Several sources report that the film's producers chose not to make the F-35C
a focal point as it only comes in a single-seat version. This creates a cinematographic challenge
that directors and cameramen cannot overcome. Instead, the filmmakers chose to focus on the
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F/A-18E/F is an excellent multi-role fighter. Its features,
including counter-stealth Infra-Red Search and Track sensors and an advanced cockpit,
make the Super Hornet a worthy companion to the F35C on aircraft carrier air wings.
In reality, if the F-35 were to become the core of Top Gun, it would be a completely
different and possibly boring film. There are three good reasons why the F-35 isn't
being used. The first is that with the F-35 there will be no thrilling, adrenaline-pumping
dogfighting scenes. The F-35 is designed to use a combination of stealth capabilities,
advanced sensing, and long-range weapons to attack aircraft from beyond their sensor range. In Red
Flag exercises conducted before the pandemic, the F-35 achieved a kill-to-aggressor ratio of
20 to 1, even when the scenario involved a vastly superior number of adversaries.
In previous exercises, the F-35, which is used as a stealth sensor,
has increased the effectiveness of the fourth-generation non-stealth aircraft in
air-to-air and air-to-ground operations. The F-35's stealth, electronic warfare
suite (including the ability to use its radar to interfere with enemy sensors),
and advanced sensors mean that the F-35 will not attack enemy air defenses as depicted in the film.
The JSF's ability to evade detection by enemy air defenses is one of the
reasons Germany chose the F-35 as a platform to support its nuclear weapons delivery mission.
The second reason is that with the F-35 leading the way for the combination of manned and unmanned
systems, there will be no dramatic flights into Death Valley lined with air defense systems.
Modern US suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) operations will not involve closing with on-deck
air defenses. Russia's air campaign in Ukraine has confirmed what air forces around the world
have known since the Vietnam War. Flying at low altitude into the gear of a layered
air defense system is a suicide mission. The F-35 is designed to engage air defenses
from a distance using several onboard weapons and electronic warfare systems, plus offboard systems.
One tactic is to have the F-35 lead the way for fourth-generation aircraft, such as the Super
Hornet and the EA-18 Growler electronic warfare aircraft. The predominant scenarios featured
in this film are those specially designed to be handled by the Navy's aircraft carrier air wing.