“Top Gun” Turns 25, but the Military Technology Is Even Older

Mike Brownfield / May 16, 2011

Remember the movie “Top Gun”? The film is 25 years old, but the military technology that played a starring role in the plot is even older. In today’s Washington Examiner, James Carafano reflects on the state of that arsenal today and why “getting America’s Maverick back” is so important:

At the end of the 1986 box-office hit, Maverick takes on a half-dozen MIG fighters. Four go down in flames. Two high-tail it for home. But it wasn’t the hot shot Navy pilot’s ego that carried the day. It was his ride: the then-state-of-the-art F-14 Tomcat.

Though the film was pure Hollywood, the hardware was real . . . (more…)