Top Gun: The Next Generation will follow a group of U.S. Navy student pilots as they train to become fighter pilots in the military’s Advanced Flight Training Program.

The production from Zinc Media Group boasts unprecedented access to one of the Navy’s most demanding training and selection programs.

Top Gun follows “a diverse range of Navy student pilots” as they embark “on some of the most challenging flight tests possible, including landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. The elite nature of the course means that only a minority — the very best — will make it to the top to fly the world’s most advanced jet, the F-35C Lightning II. This first-time access will allow the series to follow the prospective naval aviators every step of the way — in the air, in the classroom, off-base and at home — as we discover who’s got what it takes to make it to the F-35C.”

“With so many millions of fans of the film around the world, I was immediately drawn to this series. These elite jet pilots are not only extremely accomplished and impressive, but all have very different stories to tell,” said Tom McDonald, evp Global Factual and Unscripted Content at Nat Geo. “With Nat Geo’s exclusive unprecedented inside access, this series promises to be an exhilarating, visually jaw-dropping and fascinating journey into the intensely competitive world of elite flying.”

Adds Tanya Shaw, managing director, Zinc Television: “The intimate access we have gained to the characters and the emotional character-led story arcs that run through the series will paint a vivid, compelling narrative around the young men and women embarking on this highly stressful process. That narrative will elevate the series beyond the noise and spectacle of fighter jets to tell the tense, nuanced and poignant human stories behind the public-facing bravado. This is a unique project, and we are thrilled to be bringing it to viewers.”

Top Gun: The Next Generation is greenlit to series, with a premiere date to be announced later.