Battlefield 6’s upcoming Season 4 continues to look like one of its most exciting seasons yet. After delivering a first look at naval combat earlier this week, Battlefield Studios has now detailed more of what we can expect throughout the season, including early details on the teased Top Gun collaboration.

And that Top Gun collaboration will involve more than skins and cosmetics, which is beyond what many people expected. As seen in the gameplay trailer, the iconic F-14 Tomcat aircraft (F-74A Seacat in-game) is coming to the game, alongside the F/A-81F Super Spectre (F/A-18 Super Hornet). The pair are the game’s first two-seater jets, making Battlefield 6 the first game in the series since Battlefield 2 to include them.

Season 4 arrives 21st July, on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The season will unfold over three phases, as with previous seasons, with the first phase – Pacific Front – set to showcase the new Tsuru Reef map.

Not only is this the single biggest map in Battlefield 6 yet, it’s also the first to feature naval combat. This season will introduce two water vehicles in the RCB-90 Patrol Boat and the RHIB light transport boat. Phase One also adds three new weapons: the Bren 3 Carbine, EF88 Assault Rifle, and the VSSM DMR, which can be modified to fire in full automatic mode.

The Top Gun crossover is being held back until Phase Two, which begins 18th August. This is when the remake of Wake Island is being introduced, featuring two aircraft carriers that each team will spawn from. This version of the map is based on the Battlefield 5 remake. The fourth and final weapon of Season 4 will be available during this phase, in the Desert Tech HTI – the longest-range Sniper Rifle in BF6.

The Top Gun crossover is when the two aforementioned jets arrive. What’s more, BF4’s Carrier Assault mode has been reborn as Carrier Strike. The goal remains to sink the opposing team’s aircraft carrier, but this time all aspects of warfare – land, air and sea – will be required to punch through a team’s defences. Interestingly, Carrier Strike is a limited-time mode, set in the crossover universe and featuring characters and voice-overs from the films.

A Top Gun-inspired mission – Fighter Sweep – is also coming to Gauntlet, which is part of BF6’s free-to-play offering Redsec. The mission is entirely air-based and sees players pilot – and operate the guns – of the new two-seater jets and try to take each other out. More details about the second phase are due closer to launch. The third phase – Tidal Strike – kicks off 15th September, though it remains the most mysterious.

Across Season 4, you can also expect various quality of life features to be introduced such as custom lobbies. Portal is getting a pre-lobby screen where players can be assigned to teams and squads, which is very helpful for community events and tournaments. Admin controls are also in the works, allowing players to grant admin rights to others in a lobby.

Finally, you can look forward to the debut of Spectator mode this season. Initially, it will be available in verified Conquest experiences and Redsec battle royale, with more modes to be supported later. Battlefield 6 has done incredibly well for EA, breaking series records. It was very well-received at launch; in the Eurogamer review, Rick Lane praised the quality of its multiplayer, even if they felt it could’ve embraced Battlefield tenets more strongly. Since launch, BF Studios has been expanding the game to address that particular criticism and others.