{"id":47543,"date":"2022-05-29T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-29T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=47543"},"modified":"2026-06-01T02:34:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:34:48","slug":"tlp-the-program-equivalent-to-the-top-gun-of-the-us-navy-that-nato-develops-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2022\/05\/29\/tlp-the-program-equivalent-to-the-top-gun-of-the-us-navy-that-nato-develops-in-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"TLP: the program equivalent to the Top Gun of the US Navy that NATO develops in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The premiere of \"Top Gun: Maverick\" encourages the question: is there something in Europe similar to that US Navy pilot training program?<\/p>\n

The Spanish 'Top Gun': spectacular video of the Spanish Air Force about its fighter pilots<\/a><\/rel>
\nConfrontation between a Spanish EF-18M and two Russian Su-27 fighters over the Baltic Sea<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

\"Top Gun\" is the popular nickname among US naval aviators for the el Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program<\/a>, which is currently being held at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. It is a program intended primarily to provide additional instruction to naval fighter aviators in close-range air-to-air engagements<\/strong> (known in aeronautical jargon as \"dog fights\").<\/p>\n

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Four USAF F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bombers taxiing down the runway at Los Llanos Air Base on the occasion of their participation in the TLP (Photo: Dvidshub.net<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Answering the question posed in the first paragraph, yes, in Europe there is a program equivalent to the US Navy's \"Top Gun\". It's called the Tactical Leadership Program (TLP), also known as the \"NATO Top Gun\".<\/strong> The program was created in 1978 and was initially taught at the F\u00fcrstenfeldbruck airbase in Germany. In 1989 he moved to the Florennes air base in Belgium.<\/p>\n

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A pre-flight briefing of pilots from various NATO air forces at Los Llanos Air Base TLP on June 10, 2019 (Photo: Dvidshub.net<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Since 2009, the program has been carried out at the Los Llanos Air Base, in Albacete (Spain)<\/strong>, a place that the TLP points out on its website<\/a> that it is \"blessed with some of Europe\u2019s most favorable meteorological conditions and a large airspace structure. Equipped with modern infrastructure, including a purpose-built 500 bed accommodation lodge, full dining and recreation facilities, a modern aircraft repair hangar<\/strong> and logistic storage facilities.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
An EF-18M from the 15th Wing of the Spanish Air Force at Los Llanos Air Base, on February 21, 2020, on the occasion of its participation in the TLP (Photo: Dvidshub.net<\/a>).<\/div>\n

In November 2021, the multimedia website Dvidshub.net of the US Armed Forces noted about the TLP<\/a>: \"The Programme gives NATO Allied air forces a chance to benefit from training comparable to that offered by the US Navy\u2019s famous Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program<\/strong>, popularly referred to as \u201cTop Gun\u201d.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Pilots from ten allied countries participate in the TLP: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United States, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.<\/strong> The program offers advanced courses on air combat operations to the pilots who participate in it. Here you can see a video of the TLP course held at the end of last year:<\/strong><\/p>\n