--- title: "Lockheed F-104 Starfighter — OnlyPlanes" description: "The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age." canonical_url: "https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter" locale: en meta: keywords: "aviation, aircraft, airlines, airports, flight" "og:description": "The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age." "og:image": "https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/lockheed-f-104-starfighter.webp" "og:title": "Lockheed F-104 Starfighter — OnlyPlanes" --- > Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://onlyplanes.ru/llms.txt) Fighter aircraft / F-104 # Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age. ![Lockheed F-104 Starfighter aircraft photograph](https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/lockheed-f-104-starfighter.webp) Development ## History The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age. Development began in 1952, and the XF-104 prototype made its first official flight in March 1954. The designers paired a powerful engine with a narrow fuselage and an unusually short, thin wing. Beside larger contemporary fighters, the aircraft looked almost like a missile with wings. Its shape reflected priorities of speed, climb, and interception rather than long patrol endurance. The small wing reduced drag at high speed, but it also demanded care during takeoff and landing. It could not provide the same combination of manoeuvring characteristics and fuel capacity as larger aircraft built for different purposes. Pilots had to observe operating limits closely, while ground crews needed to keep the engine, controls, and landing equipment in sound condition. Early American Starfighters served as interceptors and tactical fighters. Their weapons included an M61 cannon and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The F-104 set notable speed and altitude records during the 1950s. A record flight, however, is not the same as routine combat service. The United States Air Force operated a comparatively modest number of Starfighters. Export and licensed versions, including the F-104G, became much more widespread across NATO countries and Asia. Their assignments varied: some operators concentrated on interception, while others used the type for strike missions and demanding flights in poor weather. The many variants were not identical. Avionics, structural reinforcement, armament options, and maintenance requirements changed over time. Several countries assembled aircraft under licence and managed fleets larger than the American force. In some services the type acquired a reputation for difficult and accident-prone operation. That reputation needs to be considered alongside training programmes, mission profiles, weather, and maintenance standards; an accident total alone cannot explain why events occurred. More versatile fighters eventually replaced the Starfighter in most roles. It remains an important study in focused design: an aircraft built around high speed and compact dimensions, with clear benefits and equally clear trade-offs. Its international career revealed how differently the same basic machine could perform under different operational systems. The F-104 also illustrates a broader lesson in aviation history: excellence in one technical measure does not automatically make an aircraft the best answer for every country's needs or every mission. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website","@type":"WebSite","description":"News, stories and rare images from the world of aviation","inLanguage":"en-GB","name":"OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en","publisher":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"},"translationOfWork":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter#webpage","@type":"WebPage","description":"The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age.","name":"Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#website"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter"]}],"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity","@type":"Organization","name":"OnlyPlanes","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en","logo":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo"},"sameAs":["https://t.me/legkoenebo"]},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter#article","@type":"Article","description":"The F-104 Starfighter emerged from Lockheed's effort to build a light, exceptionally fast fighter for the jet age.","headline":"Lockheed F-104 Starfighter","inLanguage":"en-GB","thumbnailUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/lockheed-f-104-starfighter.webp","author":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"},"image":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#/schema/image/1"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter#webpage"},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en/military-aviation/fighter-aircraft/lockheed-f-104-starfighter#webpage"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#identity"}},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#logo","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"OnlyPlanes","contentUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/search-logo.png","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/search-logo.png"},{"@id":"https://onlyplanes.ru/en#/schema/image/1","@type":"ImageObject","contentUrl":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/lockheed-f-104-starfighter.webp","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https://onlyplanes.ru/images/military-aviation/models/lockheed-f-104-starfighter.webp"}]} ``` ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://onlyplanes.ru/sitemap.md) for all pages.