New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took to the skies in Nevada on Sunday, joining the Navy's elite TOPGUN program for a demonstration flight aboard an F/A-18 Super Hornet, the same model of fighter jet made famous by Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.

Hegseth, 45, flew alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who piloted his own F-16 fighter jet during the event at Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, about an hour east of Reno.

"The Chairman and I took a ride into the danger zone with TOPGUN at Naval Air Station Fallon," Hegseth posted on X (formerly Twitter). "Incredible Americans."

Before takeoff, Hegseth previewed the flight experience in a short video on X, shouting the fighter pilot catchphrase: "TUR...