Welcome to NATO’s ‘Top Gun’, where Allied fighter pilots team up against a series of complex scenarios.
Synopsis
The skies above Albacete, Spain roar with jet noise as NATO’s best fighter pilots take part in the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), a school often referred to as ‘NATO’s Top Gun.’ TLP gives an international twist to the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, also known as TOPGUN, a proving ground for fighter pilots who wish to test their mettle. At this course, the focus is on learning how to work together, merging tactics and capabilities to make a stronger multinational fighting force. Over the course of four weeks, TLP students must plan, fly and debrief their missions, often on short notice. This teaches pilots to manage stress while responding to increasingly complex scenarios that factor in modern adversary tactics, like electronic warfare. Through the long days and nights, TLP forges Allied pilots into a single, multinational team, capable of taking on even the most difficult tasks. The Tactical Leadership Programme was founded by six NATO Allies in 1978, in what was then the Federal Republic of Germany. Today, 10 Allies - Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States of America - fly from Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, sharing the latest in tactics and techniques to raise the overall effectiveness of Allied air forces.
Transcript
Captain Ioannou Hellenic Air Force
You climb, dogfight. I mean, is there anything more exciting than this?”
— TEXT ON SCREEN —
NATO’S BEST FIGHTER PILOTS
HAVE THEIR OWN ‘TOP GUN’
WHERE THEY PUT THEIR SKILLS TO THE TEST
—SOUNDBITES IN ENGLISH —
Major Daniele Marmiroli Instructor, Tactical Leadership Programme
“Here, we train the participant to plan for a different type of mission and different scenarios. In one day, they will plan the mission, they will fly the mission and they will debrief the mission.”
Captain Ioannou Hellenic Air Force
“I think it’s very intense. There are long days of work. We understand how each other thinks, so in that way, we can fight together.”
PILOTS FROM ACROSS THE ALLIANCE
LEARN HOW TO CONDUCT MULTINATIONAL MISSIONS
AND BETTER PROTECT NATO ALLIES
Major Quentin French Air and Space Force
“We all have a common culture. Well, a fighter pilot has to have a kind of perfect mix between being very humble, but at the same time there is also the need to have the will to win. We need to have a kind of a winner’s spirit. Because we face challenges, and if you don’t want to win, you won’t make it of course.”
Captain Ioannou Hellenic Air Force
“When you snap the afterburner in and you take off, it’s the most intense and exciting thing that can happen in your life.”
Music
“Age of AI” by Queens Road; “Gripping Grandeur” by Toby Fortress
Usage rights
This media asset is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is restricted for use for other purposes. Some footage courtesy of the US Department of Defense and the French Air and Space Force.
