Nat Geo Offers Unprecedented Access Into the World of Student Fighter Pilots In New Series "Top Guns: The Next Generation"
Nat Geo has announced a new series following a class of Navy and Marine Corps student pilots, offering unprecedented access in and out of the cockpit.
What’s Happening:
- National Geographic has announced a new six-part series Top Guns: The Next Generation, where cameras follow a class of Navy and Marine Corps student pilots as they enter the final and most unforgiving phase of elite strike fighter training.
- It’s six 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.
- The series goes beyond the cockpit, following ambitious young Navy and Marine students both in the air and off-base, capturing candid moments with family and friends and revealing the personal stakes, sacrifices and motivations that brought them here.
- Filmed with unprecedented access, the new series 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.
- While the emotional stakes fuel the story, it’s in the skies where the drama hits full throttle. Outfitted with in-cockpit cameras, the series delivers a breathtaking front-row experience to capture moments of precision, panic and hard-fought triumph as they happen.
- Filmed by some of the creative talent behind the blockbuster film Top Gun: Maverick, the aerial sequences are cinematic and pulse-pounding, pushing the limits of what these student aviators - and their aircraft - can do.
- Top Guns: The Next Generation premieres Sept. 16 at 9/8c on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
Episodes and Dates:
- STRIKE
Premieres Sept. 16 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Sept. 17 on Disney+ and Hulu
One student’s dreams of becoming a fighter pilot are put in jeopardy as the class starts advanced phase training with a set of breathtaking bombing tests. Diving at speeds they’ve 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.
- CATCHING THE WIRE
Premieres Sept. 23 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Sept. 24 on Disney+ and Hulu
Landing on an aircraft carrier demands precision flying and is a skill vital for all U.S. Navy fighter pilots. As the students tackle the longest and most technical section of the Advanced Phase, they know it’s a test they must pass to keep their dreams alive. The pressure mounts on some struggling students, and the commanding officer issues a timely warning to one.
- ATTACK ATTACK!
Premieres Sept. 30 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Oct. 1 on Disney+ and Hulu
As the students reach the midpoint of their training, they start the iconic dogfighting phase. Against them are seasoned instructors with hundreds of hours of real-world experience. To pass, they must outmaneuver the enemy to take a “kill shot." One student has the added pressure of flying with his Top Gun-trained commodore, while another struggles to control his aggressive instincts.
- FIGHT’S ON!
Premieres Oct. 7 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Oct. 8 on Disney+ and Hulu
As they enter the second and most challenging phase of dog fighting, everything is on the line for our students. Defensive dogfighting involves dynamic maneuvers to evade battle-hardened instructors. The physical strain proves too much for one student, while another has a crisis of confidence when past failures come back to haunt him.
- HEAD-TO-HEAD
Premieres Oct. 14 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Oct. 15 on Disney+ and Hulu
The students face their final test in an iconic head-to-head dogfight against an instructor. To pass, they must bring all the skills they’ve learned during their Advanced Phase training. With graduation just days away, students start to worry about their final grades and whether they will get the posting they—and in many cases, their families—want.
- LAST CHANCE
Premieres Oct. 21 at 9/8c on Nat Geo, Streams Oct. 22 on Disney+ and Hulu
It’s graduation week. For the remaining students, it means they have one last chance to prove they deserve their prestigious fighter pilot wings. Standing in their way is a tense head-to-head dogfight against an instructor. Past failures come back to haunt one student, and another’s whole fighter pilot future comes down to a single flight with their commanding officer.
Disney and Jets:
- National Geographic parent company, Disney, is no stranger to celebrating military pilots, despite having nothing to do with the original Top Gun or Top Gun: Maverick films.
- From time to time, typically on holidays or special occasions, military jets fly over the Disney Parks in a grand moment filled with pomp and circumstance. You can see a recent flyover in our post, here.
- Every day at the parks, veterans (sometimes military pilots) are honored in special flag retreat ceremonies in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and at Disneyland Park.
- You can find out more about these time honored traditions in our post, here.