The F-14 Tomcat was made famous in Top Gun, but haven't been used by the military in decades. Photo: Courtesy Nathan Laird/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
A bill to move three F-14 Tomcat fighter jets to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is moving through Congress.
Why it matters: The aircraft are among the last remaining Tomcats, and the move would spare them from destruction by designating them for education and display, per House bill sponsor Rep. Abraham Hamadeh, of Arizona.
Driving the news: The Maverick Act of 2026 takes a cue from the movie "Top Gun," in which Tom Cruise's character flies an F-14 Tomcat, and which was an inspiration for Hamadeh, a former U.S. Army officer.
Coincidentally, the original Top Gun movie is heading back to theaters this month for its 40th anniversary.
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) introduced the bill in the Senate March 23, and it passed with a unanimous vote April 29. The House bill, introduced April 16, is still in committee.
Zoom in:The House version of the bill, with listed cosponsors including Rep. Dale Strong, whose district covers Huntsville, would create an exception to strict post-retirement rules that have resulted in the destruction of nearly all remaining F-14s, per Hamadeh's office.
The bill would transfer the jets at no cost to the government, instead putting that cost, and the cost of restoration, on the Space and Rocket Center Commission.
Zoom out: The last Navy F-14 was retired in 2006 after 32 years of service, per The War Zone, which notes the aircraft are the only three of their type currently housed at the famous Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
TWZ notes that the bill directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide spare parts "to make one of the F-14D aircraft flyable or able to complete a static display."
