The final moments of the latest Top Gun: Maverick trailer see the boisterous Navy pilot man an impressive, shockwave-sending aircraft – but what kind of jet is it? Directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose other credits include the firefighter thriller Only The Brave and the Tom Cruise sci-fi vehicle Oblivion, this long-awaited sequel follows Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) at the top of the Navy's test flight program. Joining Cruise on this high-flying adventure are Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, and Jean Louisa Kelly – as well as a return from Val Kilmer as "Iceman," though the classic character has been notably absent from the trailers thus far.
What seems most intriguing about Top Gun: Maverick is that, like most of Tom Cruise's recent action films, authenticity seems to be a priority. Like the character, who's actively avoiding a military promotion that would keep him grounded, Cruise has only gotten more and more adventurous in his older age. Though audiences got a glimpse of the 57-year-old actor operating heavy, aerial machinery in 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Maverick will see the seemingly unstoppable performer operating on a whole new extreme.
Included in that is one rip-roaring jet that literally sends shockwaves across the ground and the roof on top of a guard shack flying. The latest Top Gun: Maverick trailer only shows a quick glimpse of it, but the plane has a spade-like figure, stubby wings, and two visible air intakes. So while Paramount has confirmed that Tom Cruise had undergone fighter plane training, the studio has not confirmed what kind of plane it is. From the looks of it, however, and, thanks to several hints throughout the trailers, it may very possibly be the mysterious SR-72 hypersonic spy plane.
For instance, at points during both of the Top Gun: Maverick trailers, Maverick is seen in a pressurized black suit that is typically reserved for operating high altitude aircraft such as the U-2 and the proposed jet's predecessor, the SR-71 spy plane. While viewers can only see the suit at the end of the second trailer, in the first teaser trailer, Cruise can be seen wearing it during a conversation with Ed Harris' character, a two star admiral, as he breaks down what Maverick has been doing in the past 30 years.
Interestingly enough, if Top Gun 2 is utilizing the SR-72, the film could possibly be aiding in the development of the aircraft. Privately proposed by Lockheed Martin as a successor to the SR-71 (which was retired by the United States Air Force in 1998), NASA awarded the company a contract to study the feasibility of the SR-72 back in 2014. Since then, the plane has remained in various stages of development, though the aerospace corporation has announced that it had made a technological breakthrough, which would allow the aircraft to reach Mach 6 – roughly 4600 miles per hour.
Now, if anyone from Top Gun: Maverick or even Tom Cruise himself was somehow certified to operate this jet fighter, estimated to cost less than $1 billion, it'd be safe to say that the new film would be bringing a wholly original and epic experience to the cinema.
