F-104 Starfighter

On March 4th, the F-104 Starfighter, created by the American company Lockheed, celebrated its 70th anniversary. On that day in 1954, the first prototype of the aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California. The design team, led by the legendary Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, proposed the concept of a relatively simple fighter aircraft characterized by high speed and climb rate. To achieve this, some degree of sacrifice in horizontal maneuverability and takeoff/landing characteristics was necessary.

Serial production of the F-104 was not only carried out by Lockheed. Under license, the aircraft was produced by the multinational European consortium NASMO, Canadian company Canadair, Italian Aeritalia, and Japanese Mitsubishi. A total of 2578 units were built in nearly 20 variants, including both fighters and fighter-bombers.

The most mass-produced variant was the F-104G fighter-bomber (1127 aircraft produced), equipped with a single General Electric J79-GE-7 engine with afterburning thrust of over 7,000 kgf. It had a length of 16.7 m, wing span of 6.7 m, maximum takeoff weight of 13,166 kg, maximum speed of 2,556 km/h, climb rate of 164 m/s, and a range with external fuel tanks of up to 2,600 km. Armament included a 20mm cannon, and it could carry guided air-to-air missiles AIM-9 and air-to-surface missiles AGM-12B, conventional bombs, napalm tanks, etc., with a total weight of over 1800 kg, on five external hardpoints.

In addition to the United States, the Starfighter was adopted by 14 other countries, including Belgium, Italy, Jordan, Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, and Japan. The aircraft participated in several local conflicts, including Vietnam and the wars between India and Pakistan. The Italian Air Force operated these aircraft until October 2004.

The F-104 left behind a mixed legacy. On one hand, it boasted outstanding speed characteristics and advanced armament for its time. On the other hand, it was notorious for its high accident rate and gained scandalous fame due to accusations against Lockheed of bribery of officials in several countries to secure contracts for the aircraft, notably in Japan.