Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft, later developed into an all-weather multirole aircraft. It first flew in March 1954, entering service in 1958 with the 83rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Revolutionary in design and the first aircraft capable of maintaining Mach 2. It served with the USAF until 1969 and the Air National Guard until 1975. NASA operated a small fleet for supersonic flight testing and spaceflight programs. The last Starfighters in military service (Italian Air Force) were retired in 2004. Production ended in 1980 with 2,578 airframes built by Lockheed and others, serving with the air forces of over 15 countries.

Construction is mainly of aluminium alloy with some stainless steel and titanium. The fuselage is a semi-monocoque design accompanied by small mid-mounted cantilevered trapezoidal wings with anhedral. It has a cantilever T-tail with a trapezoidal tailplane and retractable tricycle type undercarriage.

It uses a single General Electric J79 axial-flow afterburning turbojet engine, mounted in the rear of the fuselage. The F-104G, a fighter-bomber variant, has a maximum speed of 2,495 km/h (1,528 mph), a combat range of 680 km (420 mi), and a service ceiling of 15,000 m (50,000 ft).

Armament consists of one 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan cannon on the left side of the fuselage below the cockpit. Seven external hard-points, able to carry up to 1,800 kgs (4,000 lbs) of stores: one on each wing-tip, two under each wing and one under the fuselage. Ordnance included air-to-air, bombs including nuclear and drop tanks.