The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, more popularly known as Top Gun, is a United States Navy training program that teaches air combat maneuvering tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, who return to their operating units as surrogate instructors.
"TOP GUN" text at the line shack of NAS Miramar, 1984
U.S. Navy Fleet Air Gunnery Unit Pacific aircraft from NAAS El Centro in the late 1950s
An F-16 Fighting Falcon and an F-14 Tomcat engaged in a mock dogfight as part of Top Gun training in 1989
Mechanics at the flight line of NAS Miramar, 1984
Naval Air Station Fallon
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Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Navy-Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) taking over from the former NAS Miramar, California, and the surrounding area contains 240,000 acres (97,000 ha) of bombing and electronic warfare ranges. It is also home to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC), which includes TOPGUN, the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (CAEWWS) and the Navy Rotary Wing Weapons School. Navy SEAL Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) training also takes place there.
A US Navy F-16A Fighting Falcon of the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center based at NAS Fallon
A VA-97 A-7 Corsair II at Naval Air Station Fallon Nevada US Air Park Museum that was on the USS Coral Sea flown by Vice Admiral Andrew ("Woody") L. Lewis
A 157th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon prepares for a mission, November 2014.
A 157th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off, November 2014.