This Is Why The F-35 Lightning Didn't Star In Top Gun: Maverick
The F-35 is a highly capable fifth-generation
fighter that gets just a few seconds of screen time in Top Gun: Maverick
It is probably fair to say that Top Gun: Maverick has been a rip-roaring success in
2022. The sequel to 1986’s Top Gun has proved a massive hit with cinema-goers worldwide,
and as of the time of writing it is the highest-grossing film of 2022 so far,
and the highest-grossing film in the career of Tom Cruise. It is an absolute blast to watch,
and it very much feels like it’s breathed new life into movies and cinemas as a whole.
Of course, one of the other big stars in the film is the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the aircraft
that effectively takes over the role of the F-14 Tomcat from the original. And it is great to see
the Hornet get a starring role. But it might have been a different military aircraft getting
the starring role. There are theories and rumors that the producers of the film wanted the F-35
Lightning to be the starring jet in the movie, but for various reasons, the plane wasn’t chosen.
These are some of the reasons we have heard as to why the F-35 was not Top Gun: Maverick’s star.
The F-35 Lightning Itself The F-35 in itself is a bit of
a star machine. It is a fifth-generation fighter with vertical take-off and landing capabilities,
and it first flew in December 2006. A long time ago now, but it has had a few issues
in development tanks to its size and complexity. It effectively took over
from the British and American versions of the Harrier, which equally drew criticism,
as the British had just upgraded their versions of the Harrier. But the F-35
is now gradually entering service, and with a weapon load up to 2,500 lb it can pack a punch.
The F-35 has one Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 afterburning turbofan as its primary source
of power, which can propel the jet to a top speed of around Mach 1.6,
and it has a range of 1,500 nautical miles.
Stealth is a major aspect of the design of the F-35 as well, with its low radar-cross section
achieved via some meticulous shaping of the airframe as well as the use of
radar-absorbent materials within the jet's construction. The stealth aspect might not
have made an appearance in the film as exciting, although it's certainly a cool side to the jet.
Why The F-35 Didn’t Appear In Maverick
There are several theories as to why the jet didn’t make an appearance in the film. First
of all, there is the single-seat nature of the jet. There are two and single-seat versions of
the Hornet, meaning we could have Maverick and Rooster flying the later versions, with characters
such as Phoenix and Bob sharing the two-seater. But also, the lack of a two-seat version would
have posed cinematographic challenges, with the two-seater Hornets allowing for a real
US Navy pilot to fly the actors around, and the shots would look like they were flying the jets.
Then there is the fact that the F-35 would simply never see usage in a low-level,
almost suicidal mission, like in the film. The jet is used in a higher altitude role,
and it plays a part in working with unmanned systems too. The F-35 would
take out air defenses at the range, so the SAM sites we see in the film would likely
get obliterated first by the F-35 before the Hornets then came in to attack the
main target. But with the air defenses gone, they wouldn’t need to fly at such low heights.
A Lack Of High Octane Dogfighting
Another good reason for the F-35 not taking part would be that there would be no crazy
dog fighting sequences as we saw during the pilot's Top Gun training under Maverick. The
website 19FortyFive records that in the 2019 Red Flag exercises, F-35s achieved a kill ratio
against aggressors of 20 to 1. It would simply engage with aircraft like the enemy Su-57 from
a long distance, not in a close quarter fight that we saw the F-14 in the film engage in.
Does It Matter That The F-35 Wasn’t Present?
Save for a few seconds early in the film, you never saw the F-35 in the film,
and the film mentioned it just once when Maverick was first shown the brief for
the mission. But the reality is, it doesn’t matter that the jet didn’t get a starring
role. Mainly for the reasons outlined above, with the cinematography aspect perhaps being
the biggest reason in the end. But the F/A-18 proved to be a fantastic starring aircraft,
and the film was perhaps a reminder that despite first flying in the 1990s,
the Super Hornet is still a very capable and effective combat aircraft.
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