At the begining and at the final battle scene, when the fighting is for real, the Russian planes are actually repainted American F-5 Tiger 2s. Also there is not anything as a MiG-28s. All jet MiGs ave been odd numbered
The Soviets have always numbered their aircrafts oddly, never even, so there is no chance of a MiG-28 ever existing (eg. Mig 17, MiG 21, etc.). The fact that they are F-5 Tiger IIs given the Red Army markings(the bright red star on the tail indicates they are Russian) also disproves the MiGs.
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Actually, Top Gun was filmed at Miramar in San Diego, Cali. in the autumn of 1984. I was born at Balboa Med. Center, and my family lived at the base during the filming of the movie.
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They use F-5s for sim battles. In fact, the star on the tail was fake; it only simulates enemies to tell which is on your side and which isn't, because the star has a border around it, whereas the Russian star does not. Plus, they wouldn't let it go if it was a true enemy; they would either escort it back to the carrier or shoot it down. That's the one rule of Naval Aviation; NEVER LET THE ENEMY GO!
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That's really a non-issue.
American jets are used all the time to simulate enemy aircraft. (Tora! Tora! Tora! for example)
The MiG-28 is a contrived type - can't expect the filmmakers to design a whole new aircraft from scratch to flying model just for a movie right? Furhter, this was in 1985 (?); CGI wasn't extant then.
Lastly, juust like to add a point - the F-5 is (was) used by the Navy as an aggressor a/c.
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