F-4 Phantom

F-14 Tomcat

F/A-18 Hornet

1965 1975 2005 20151985

1968 Ault Report

suggests new “Advanced Fighter Weapons School”

1969 First TOPGUN class

arrives at Naval Air Station Miramar, San Diego,

on March 3

1972 Navy MiG kill

ratio in Vietnam rises to 12:1 from 2:1

1975 Mathematician Dr. Richard Oberle

is first CNA analyst to work with TOPGUN

1981 Outer Air Battle tactics

to protect the fleet from Soviet bombers occupy

TOPGUN for a decade

1986 “Top Gun” is the highest grossing film of the year,

featuring a fictional relationship between a fighter pilot and a CNA analyst. Applications

for Navy flight training take off

1993 Air-to-ground strike tactics added to TOPGUN syllabus

as threats change and fighter/attack jets become common

1993 Memorandum commits CNA

to full-time field representative support to TOPGUN and TOPDOME

1995

1996 TOPGUN moves to

NAS Fallon, Nevada, as part of new

Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC)

2003 Afghanistan,

Iraq wars increase focus on

precision strike tactics for close air support of

ground forces.

2018 National Defense Strategy

and great power competition accelerate

renewed focus on air-to-air warfighting tactics

2019 TOPGUN turns 50,

prepares for arrival of F-35C Lightning II

(expected 2020)

2015 NSAWC

is expanded and renamed Naval Aviation

Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC)

January 1973Vietnam War Ends

1981Libya

1989Libya

1983Lebanon/Syria

1991Desert Storm

1995Bosnia

2014 Syria

2003 Iraq

2001 Afghanistan

KEY NAVAL AVIATION OPERATIONS

TOPGUN TURNS 50