When Tom Cruise brings “Maverick” back to the silver screen, he’ll be snubbing the most expensive U.S. fighter jet in history, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, for a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Cruise, who played Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in 1986’s “Top Gun,” tweeted a picture of himself looking at the Boeing fighter used in the upcoming “Top Gun 2” with the caption “Feel the Need.” The line refers to an iconic scene in the original film in which Mitchell and his best friend, Lt. Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, rib each other about feeling “the need for speed.”
The choice of Boeing’s jet is expected to be a boon for the Chicago-based company, as once-stagnant sales of the Super Hornet to the federal government begin to heat up. The news is likely particularly satisfying for Boeing because it lost the lucrative Joint Strike Fighter contract to Lockheed in 2001, the first year of George W. Bush’s presidency.
“This line was in danger several years ago of starting to shut down, and they’ve stabilized,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, national security analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “While the line has stabilized on its own, this doesn’t hurt in general in helping to bolster the opinion of the aircraft.”
#Day1 pic.twitter.com/7jjPL277Es
— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) May 31, 2018
A significant uptick in military spending in the recent government funding bill should further boost sales for Boeing, though the military is still spending far more on the F-35. The package increased caps on armed forces spending by $80 billion in fiscal 2018 and $85 billion in fiscal 2019.
A Lockheed spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, and Boeing declined to comment. A Navy spokesperson could not immediately be reached.
On Twitter, however, it was a different story. Boeing Defense noted the Cruise tweet on its official account.
The need for speed. ? https://t.co/v16jCJS69D
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) May 31, 2018
And the U.S. Navy’s official account chimed in when the U.S. Air Force tried to throw shade on the online excitement.
.@usairforce Remember, boys, no points for second place. @flynavy
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) May 31, 2018
The original “Top Gun,” in which Cruise’s character flew an F-14 Tomcat built by Grumman Aircraft Corp., was a major recruiting boost for the Navy. While that aircraft was retired in 2006, some experts say the sequel’s focus on a current jet could spur support for greater defense spending.
“Optics matter under this administration,” Eaglen said, referring to President Trump’s White House. “Cultural moments and events that shouldn’t have an out-sized impact could under this administration.”
Asked by a reporter at Thursday’s Pentagon briefing if the movie will adequately or accurately portray the state of naval aviation, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said, “I am very confident in our team’s ability to assist in the development of that,” adding “I personally have not read the script yet, but we will work very closely to ensure that it depicts our aviators in a realistic way.”
The Department of Defense has an office specifically assigned to work with Hollywood on movie scripts that it cooperates on.
One condition is that the scenarios in the movies are realistic or are clearly science fiction.
The Navy loved the original “Top Gun,” as well as the 1990 movie “Hunt for Red October.” But it withheld cooperation for 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” which depicted a mutiny on a U.S. ballistic missile submarine.
The F-35, however, shouldn’t feel left out when it comes to cameos.
Jamie J. McIntyre contributed to this report.
