Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF), it was developed into an all-weather multirole aircraft in the early 1960s and extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. It was also produced under license by other nations and saw widespread service outside the United States.

After interviews with Korean War fighter pilots in 1951, Lockheed lead designer Kelly Johnson chose to buck the trend of ever-larger and more complex fighters to produce a simple, lightweight aircraft with maximum altitude and climb performance. On 4 March 1954, the Lockheed XF-104 took to the skies for the first time, and on 26 February 1958, the production fighter entered service with the USAF.

Fifteen NATO and allied air forces eventually flew the Starfighter, many for longer than the USAF. In October 1958, West Germany chose the F-104 as its primary fighter aircraft. In response to a 1957 German Air Staff Paper asking for a single aircraft to fulfill its fighter, fighter-bomber, and reconnaissance mission requirements, Lockheed redesigned the entire airframe to produce the F-104G "Super Starfighter" — the variant that formed the backbone of West Germany's Luftwaffe, and from which the two-seat TF-104G trainer was derived.

The Starfighter's design was radical, with thin, stubby wings attached farther back on the fuselage than most contemporary aircraft. The wing provided excellent supersonic and high-speed, low-altitude performance, but also poor turning capability and high landing speeds. It was the first production aircraft to achieve Mach 2, and the first aircraft to reach an altitude of 100,000 ft after taking off under its own power.

The Starfighter had a poor safety record, especially in Luftwaffe service — the Germans lost 292 of 916 aircraft and 116 pilots from 1961 to 1989, leading the German public to dub it Witwenmacher ("widowmaker"). Despite this, it remained in widespread NATO service for decades before being progressively retired, with the last examples leaving Italian Air Force service in 2004.