Top Guns: The Next Generation reveals the life-or-death reality of naval training

We also meet the instructors, on hand to keep the recruits in line and the viewers abreast of more technical terms. In 2024, when the show was filmed, Captain Juston Kuch was the commander of “Training Wing One”, overseeing the programme at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi.

As an engineering graduate, Kuch interned at Boeing before joining the Navy, and landed at Meridian for his own training a week before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Each year, around 150 hopefuls make their way to Mississippi, determined to become the best of the best.

“These people were captains of their high school baseball teams,” says Kuch of the trainees. “They were leaders, valedictorians, standout students. But, once you get into flight training, it’s a meritocracy. It doesn’t matter where you came from. We’ve had Ivy League students fail out, and we’ve had students from colleges they could barely pronounce excel in the programme. It comes down to dedication, willingness to get better, and an ability to put in hard work and effort.”

And quick reaction times alone don’t put candidates at the top of their class, Kuch reveals. “I’ve actually got incredibly slow reactions to things on the fly,” he says, “but I can always recall procedure, or a checklist. And that’s the key element at this stage of training.”

Theories of learning have evolved as well. While advancements in equipment, such as simulator technology, have been significant over the past two decades, Kuch believes that the most pivotal progress has been made in identifying new learning styles and adapting teaching methods for individual students. This is a principal focus of the series: the less-flashy or high-octane, but equally rigorous academic element of the programme.

“We wanted to provide an authentic look at the training,” says Kuch. “In the Top Gun films, you see the mission, but how did that individual get there? What were the years – or, in some cases, decades – of training that went into that?

“By some accounts,” he adds, “I think Tom Cruise would pass our training in real life! He’s a pretty accomplished aviator, and the motivation he has and preparation he does means he would have no problem with our flight training. Those films really are phenomenal. They may take some liberties with how missions get planned, executed, and debriefed, but the flight scenes are real.”

Michael FitzMaurice was the aerial director of photography on Top Gun: Maverick – and was also brought on board to film Top Guns: The Next Generation. His cinematography company, XBrand, previously worked on documentaries about Black Hawk helicopters and the Blue Angels aerobatic display squadron (sort of an American Red Arrows). But this level of military clearance, granted to FitzMaurice and his aerial co-ordinator and pilot Kevin LaRosa II, was their highest yet.

“I can’t imagine understanding this story as much had we not seen it from this perspective,” he says. “It’s great being in the cockpit, seeing what the pilot is doing, but to be able to get outside and see the aircraft itself? From a storytelling perspective, that really helps.”

Yet filming at altitude can be expensive, so series director Lana Salah began by following the recruits through their ground-based training before handing over to FitzMaurice. “They did a rough edit,” he explains, “before we came in at the end and filmed what was needed to finish the story.”

And the jets behind the camera are almost as impressive as those in front, with LaRosa piloting a modified Czech L-39 jet that XBrand affectionately calls the “Cinejet”. “Back in the day,” LaRosa explains, “you’d have an internally mounted camera system inside a jet that used a series of mirrors to get outside – like a submarine periscope. But that image would degrade every time it bounced back and forth on the mirrors, so we took a highly stabilised gimbal meant for helicopters, beefed it up, and put it on a jet.”

LaRosa first dreamt up the Cinejet around a decade ago while working with Tom Cruise on Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. “He mentioned then that they were eventually going to make Top Gun 2 – as it was called at the time – and he didn’t realise it, but he planted a seed in my brain. It wasn’t until years later we got the call to do the movie, but during that time period, we had developed the Cinejet.”

The Cinejet is behind many of the series’ most dynamic shots, but XBrand also utilised helicopters when they required a steadier airborne vantage point. The series also saw the debut of the world’s first dedicated jet gimbal – a six-axis gyrostabilised set-up that allowed for smooth shooting at altitudes between 6,000ft and 12,000ft, and at speeds of up to 400 knots, or 460mph.

“There was a specific sequence our director wanted,” says LaRosa, “of training bombs detaching from the jets. Her dream was for the audience to be literally right next to the bombs as they disconnected from the wings, then follow them to the ground. So we tucked the Cinejet right next to the wing, watched the bombs disconnect, then tracked those weapons down to the targets. It felt like a video game, and no other platform exists in the world that could have got that shot.”

“We were absolutely able to do things on Top Guns: The Next Generation that we weren’t even able to achieve on Top Gun: Maverick,” adds FitzMaurice. And it shows. Even on the small screen, the innovation and dedication of the behind-the-scenes teams shines through. It’s a gold standard of coordination and teamwork also evident in the recruits’ training experience, where up to a dozen hours of flight preparation can equate to just one hour in the air.

“That’s the work of multiple outstanding individuals,” says Captain Micah Nissly, one of the pilots whose training the show follows. “Maintenance crews. Guys on the ground. Their teamwork and professionalism are just essential. I’m flying a $100 million jet, but there’s so little flight time in comparison to their work.”

Nissly enlisted in the Marine Corps and flew with the Blue Angels before arriving in Meridian. This aerobatic experience proved invaluable when facing brutal drills, intense flights and precise carrier landings – undeniably the most thrilling moments of the series. But behind these exhilarating, cinematically shot sequences are many acute mental and physical struggles, such as pilots regularly enduring over six Gs of force.

“That’s an extremely humbling experience,” nods Nissly, “because you feel like you’re in top shape, and then you experience those Gs for the first time. It’s like someone sitting on your chest while you’re trying to recite your ABCs. Austin Claggett, who was also in the show with me, related it to working out. He said it’s like doing a squat but – just as you start coming back up – someone adds extra weight onto you.”

Alongside Nissly and Claggett, other recruits shadowed for the series include Stephanie Harris, Carissa Meinster and Spenser Neel. Participation was voluntary, says Nissly, but he’s happy to have taken part – and made some new friends along the way. “To be able to go through flight school with these individuals was awesome,” he says, “because no one gets through this alone. The Top Gun movies are great, and we love watching them, but I feel like there’s something slightly missed, especially in the first movie, and that’s the level of camaraderie.”

Hollywood has also glamourised pilots’ call signs. Among the real-life instructors we meet during the series, signs include “Duster”, “Ghoul” and “Bambi.” Captain Kuch’s is “Poker”, adopted after a memorable streak at a casino during early training. But Nissly, who is yet to be given his own informal moniker (the signs are not official, and are mostly used during casual communication in the aircraft), says most are considerably less cool than they are in the movies.

“‘Maverick’, for example, is an outstanding call sign,” he laughs. “We all aspire to have one that cool. However, they usually come from your worst mistake. This is an awesome career field, but one of the worries I had coming into it was the arrogance. I thought the community would be like: ‘I’m the best there is! No one can top me!’ But that’s not been what I’ve seen, and I think call signs are a good way to humble us.”

Watching the series is also a humbling experience. Whether it’s the cinematographic skill or the talent of the recruits, there’s no doubt that we’re watching the best of the best. Even behind those high-flying cameras, there’s genuine life-or-death risk in every episode, and it’s eye-opening to be given such unprecedented insight into this elite world. But still, the moments that hit hardest are human – study troubles, everyday stresses, and those grounding call signs.

“No matter how cool of a jet you’re flying, no matter your best day, you’ve still had that rough day,” says Nissly. “You’re still human, and when you’re flying these jets, that’s important to remember.”

Top Guns: The Next Generation airs every Sunday at 9pm on National Geographic until 26th October.

Add Top Guns: The Next Generation to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.