{"id":1986692,"date":"2025-08-29T14:56:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1986692"},"modified":"2025-08-29T14:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:56:36","slug":"what-we-know-about-natgeos-upcoming-top-gun-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/what-we-know-about-natgeos-upcoming-top-gun-series\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know about NatGeo\u2019s upcoming \u2018Top Gun\u2019 series"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A new six-part series on National Geographic promises to take viewers along the journey to the real \u201cTop Gun\u201d training grounds as cameras follow pilot students from the Navy and Marine Corps through the end of their qualification pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cTop Guns: The Next Generation,\u201d which is set to air on NatGeo on Sept. 16 \u2014 and streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+ \u2014 showcases \u201csix months of high-stakes aerial training, brutal physical demands, and emotional reckoning, where only the top performers earn the chance to fly the most coveted aircrafts,\u201d according to the series description.<\/p>\n

\u201cFilmed with unprecedented access, it immerses audiences in a world of intense pressure and soaring expectations, where dreams of earning wings of gold collide with the harsh reality of the grueling training. From bombing drills to close-range dogfights and nail-biting carrier approaches, each episode captures the intense demands of a program that challenges their abilities, endurance and resolve at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recently released trailer<\/a> and episode descriptions provide a taste of what viewers can expect when they tune in. Here\u2019s what we know so far.<\/p>\n

T-45 Goshawk gets its moment in the sun<\/b><\/h3>\n

The 1986 Tom Cruise blockbuster that put TOPGUN on the map \u2014 that is, the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Program, now in Fallon, Nevada \u2014 focused on pilots flying the iconic F-14 Tomcat.<\/p>\n

This new series, focused on the training prior to making it to TOPGUN, will prominently feature a workhorse of fighter pilot training: the white-and-red T-45C Goshawk trainer.<\/p>\n

Imagery from the trailer confirms the action in the new series is taking place at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi, one of two final training locations for naval strike\/fighter pilot students seeking to earn their wings of gold.<\/p>\n

Made by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), the two-seat Goshawk has been in service since the late 1980s, and is the only fighter trainer equipped to land on aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n

And while the Goshawk\u2019s top speed of 645 miles per hour is about half that of the F\/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters the student pilots may soon fly, it\u2019s still an intense ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like we teleport,\u201d one student says in a trailer voiceover.<\/p>\n

\"Student<\/span><\/div>\n

Student 1st Lt. Austin Claggett prepares for his bombing dry run. (National Geographic)<\/p>\n

Leaning into Top Gun nostalgia<\/b><\/h3>\n

From the familiar opening chords of the trailer to a sweaty volleyball game in the sun, throwbacks to the movie that started it all are everywhere.<\/p>\n

That may be appropriate, as \u201cTop Gun\u201d lore is now almost inextricably part of the fabric of the Navy.<\/p>\n

The movie, at least according to rumor<\/u><\/a>, led to a Navy recruiting boom as the service took advantage of the interest and curiosity it spurred. The Navy also went all in on collaborating with Hollywood for the 2022 sequel, \u201cTop Gun: Maverick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other \u201cTop Gun\u201d callbacks in the trailer include a shot of a student pilot speeding along a highway on a motorcycle a la Tom Cruise, and another mustachioed pilot being compared to \u201cGoose\u201d from the movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoose dies,\u201d the pilot responds. \u201cI hope there\u2019s not any similarities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drama, conflict and attrition<\/b><\/h3>\n

The trailer and synopses for the six episodes underscore the high-stakes tenor of real-life fighter training.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you make a mistake, it is possible you don\u2019t come back,\u201d one pilot intones.<\/p>\n

The intensity commences with the first episode, \u201cStrike,\u201d in which the students enter advanced phase training with \u201ca set of breathtaking bombing tests,\u201d according to synopses.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiving at speeds they\u2019ve never faced before, students struggle with the dynamic moves and start to make high-risk mistakes. Instructors deliver tough assessments in the debriefs to keep the students safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second episode will see the students practicing real-world carrier landings, under pressure to succeed. The third takes them into the dogfighting phase, pitting them against seasoned instructors working hard to bring them down. In the fourth, they reach the second dogfighting phase, and the breaking point for some.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical strain proves too much for one student, while another has a crisis of confidence when past failures come back to haunt him,\u201d according to synopses.<\/p>\n

Dogfight drama, and tension between students and instructors, continues to feature prominently in the final two episodes leading to the students\u2019 graduation from the advanced jet training pipeline at Meridian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the ultimate test of precision, pressure and perseverance,\u201d NatGeo says of the training.<\/p>\n

For those interested in fighter aviation and those who think \u201cTop Gun\u201d would be cool even without Tom Cruise in the cockpit, it also sounds like must-watch TV.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new six-part series on National Geographic promises to take viewers along the journey to the real \u201cTop Gun\u201d training grounds as cameras follow pilot students from the Navy and Marine Corps through the end of their qualification pipeline. \u201cTop Guns: The Next Generation,\u201d which is set to air on NatGeo on Sept. 16 \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1986693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[357837,357834,357836,33293,344391,357835],"class_list":["post-1986692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-episode-descriptions","tag-naval-air-station-meridian","tag-students","tag-tom-cruise","tag-top-gun","tag-training-grounds"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/What-we-know-about-NatGeos-upcoming-\u2018Top-Gun-series.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1986692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1986693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1986692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1986692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1986692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}