Star Trek, Star Wars, even some of the other less prevalant sci fi epic have there place in history, but Wingcommander is more Top gun than anything else.
Maybe the link should be in the stories, of how the guys in the recreation area watch old 20th century re runs of Star trek, and the Jedi sagas.
Who knows, this could inspire them before the kilrathi war boke out...
Alright ST has fighters but barely (I am talking about Starfleet). Starfleet only has denfensive fighters but that's about it. WC has more fighters. So this is a similairity and a difference.