Lockheed F-104C Starfighter

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. 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 produced by several other nations, seeing widespread service outside the United States.

After a series of interviews with Korean War fighter pilots in 1951, Kelly Johnson, then lead designer at Lockheed, opted to reverse the trend of ever-larger and more complex fighters and 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 was activated by the USAF. Only a few months later it was pressed into action during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, when it was deployed as a deterrent to Chinese MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters. Problems with the General Electric J79 engine and a preference for fighters with longer ranges and heavier payloads meant its service with the USAF was short-lived, though it was reactivated for service during the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Vietnam War, when it flew over 5,000 combat sorties.

While its time with the USAF was brief, the Starfighter found much more lasting success with other NATO and allied nations. In October 1958, West Germany selected the F-104 as its primary fighter aircraft. Canada soon followed, along with the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, and Italy. The European nations formed a construction consortium that was the largest international manufacturing program in history to that point, though the Starfighter's export success was marred in 1975 by the discovery of bribe payments made by Lockheed to many foreign military and political figures for securing purchase contracts. The Starfighter eventually flew with fifteen air forces, but its poor safety record, especially in ''Luftwaffe'' service, brought it substantial criticism. The Germans lost 292 of 916 aircraft and 116 pilots from 1961 to 1989, its high accident rate earning it the nickname "the Widowmaker" from the German public. The final production version, the F-104S, was an all-weather interceptor built by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force. It was retired from active service in 2004, though several F-104s remain in civilian operation with Florida-based Starfighters Inc.

The Starfighter featured a radical design, 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 after taking off under its own power. The Starfighter established world records for airspeed, altitude, and time-to-climb in 1958, becoming the first aircraft to hold all three simultaneously. It was also the first aircraft to be equipped with the M61 Vulcan autocannon.

Development

Background and early development

Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, vice president of engineering and research at Lockheed's Skunk Works, visited USAF air bases across South Korea in November 1951 to speak with fighter pilots about what they wanted and needed in a fighter aircraft.Upton 2003, p. 7.Pace 1992, p. 10. At the time, the American pilots were confronting the MiG-15 with North American F-86 Sabres, and many felt that the MiGs were superior to the larger and more complex American fighters. The pilots requested a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance, especially high-speed and high-altitude capabilities.Bowman 2000, p. 26. Johnson started the design of such an aircraft upon his return to the United States. In March 1952, his team was assembled; they studied over 100 aircraft configurations,Upton 2003, p. 8. ranging from small designs at just ,Upton 2003, p. 9. to large ones up to .Upton 2003, p. 10. To achieve the desired performance, Lockheed chose a small and simple aircraft, weighing in at with a single powerful engine. The engine chosen was the new General Electric J79 turbojet, an engine of dramatically improved performance in comparison with contemporary designs.Bashow 1986, p. 13. The small design powered by a single J79, issued Temporary Design Number L-246, remained essentially identical to the prototype Starfighter as eventually delivered. Lockheed designated the prototype Model 083.Pace 1992, pp. 12, 15.

Johnson presented his new fighter concept to the United States Air Force on 5 November 1952, and they were interested enough to create a general operational requirement for a lightweight fighter to supplement and ultimately replace the yet-to-fly North American F-100. Three additional companies were named finalists for the requirement: Republic Aviation with the AP-55, an improved version of its prototype XF-91 Thunderceptor; North American Aviation with the NA-212, which eventually evolved into the F-107; and Northrop Corporation with the N-102 Fang, another J79-powered entry. Although all three finalists' proposals were strong, Lockheed had what proved to be an insurmountable head start, and was granted a development contract on 12 March 1953 for two prototypes; these were given the designation " XF-104".Bowman 2000, p. 32.Pace 1992, pp. 12–15.

Work progressed quickly, with a mock-up ready for inspection at the end of April,Bowman 2000, p. 32. and work starting on two prototypes soon after.Pace 1992, p. 15. Meanwhile, the J79 engine was not ready. Both prototypes were instead built to use the Wright J65 engine, a license-constructed version of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire.Bowman 2000, p. 31. The first prototype was completed at Lockheed's Burbank facility by early 1954 and first flew on 4 March at Edwards AFB.Kropf 2002, p. 11. The total time from contract to first flight was less than one year.

Though development of the F-104 was never a secret, only a vague description of the aircraft was given when the USAF first revealed its existence. No photographs of the aircraft were released to the public until 1956, even though the XF-104 first flew in 1954. At the April 1956 public unveiling of the YF-104A, the engine inlets were obscured with metal covers. Visible weapons, including the M61 Vulcan cannon, were also hidden.Upton 2003, p. 20.Donald 2003, p. 138. Despite the secrecy, an artist's rendering of the yet-unseen F-104 appeared in the September 1954 edition of ''Popular Mechanics'' that was very close to the actual design.

The prototype made a hop into the air during taxi trials on 28 February 1954 and flew about off the ground for a short distance, but this was not counted as a first flight. On 4 March, Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier flew the XF-104 for its first official flight. He was airborne for only 21 minutes, much shorter than planned, due to landing gear retraction problems.Pace 1992, p. 16-17.Upton 2003, p. 37. The second prototype was destroyed several weeks later during gun-firing trials when the hatch to the ejector seat blew out, depressurizing the cockpit and causing the pilot to eject in the mistaken belief that a cannon mishap had crippled the aircraft.Pace 1991, p. 20. Nevertheless, on 1 November 1955 the remaining XF-104 was accepted by the USAF.Pace 1991, p. 131.

Further development

Based on the testing and evaluation of the XF-104, the next variant, the YF-104A, was lengthened and fitted with a General Electric J79 engine, modified landing gear, and modified air intakes.Cacutt 1988, p. 159. The YF-104A and subsequent models were longer than the XF-104 to accommodate the larger GE J79 engine. The YF-104 initially flew with the GE XJ79-GE-3 turbojet which generated 9,300 pounds of dry thrust (14,800 with afterburner), which was later replaced by the J79-GE-3A with an improved afterburner.Upton 2003, p. 38.

Seventeen YF-104As were ordered by the USAF on 30 March 1955 for further flight testing.Pace 1992, p. 23. The first of them flew on 17 February 1956 and, with the other 16 trial aircraft, was soon carrying out aircraft and equipment evaluation and tests. On 1 May 1957 one of the prototypes was destroyed when the ailerons malfunctioned, resulting in the aircraft tumbling wildly. The pilot ejected safely. Lockheed made several improvements to the YF-104A throughout this testing period, including strengthening the airframe, adding a ventral fin to improve directional stability at supersonic speed, and installing a boundary layer control system (BLCS) to reduce landing speed.

Problems were encountered with the J79 afterburner; further delays were caused by the need to add AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. On 28 January 1958, the first production F-104A to enter service was delivered to the 83rd Fighter Interceptor Wing.

Redesign for NATO

In response to a 1957 German Air Staff Paper asking for a single aircraft to fulfill its fighter, fighter-bomber, and reconnaissance mission requirements,Kropf 2002, p. 16. Lockheed redesigned the entire airframe, including 96 new forgings, additional skin panels, and reinforced landing gear with larger tires and improved brakes. The proposed F-104G (for Germany) "Super Starfighter" featured a more powerful J79-11A engine, a larger tail with powered rudder (the same used on the two-seat F-104B and D), improved blown flaps with a mode for improved maneuverability, electric de-icing equipment for the air intake inlets, and a larger drag chute. Avionics were improved as well, primarily with the Autonetics F15A NASARR (North American Search and Range Radar) multi-mode radar and the LN-3 inertial navigation system by Litton Industries, the first such system to be placed into operational service. Altogether, these changes increased the amount of external weapons that could be carried to , and also allowed the aircraft to fulfill the NATO requirement of carrying a "special store" (nuclear weapon) under the fuselage.Cacutt 1988, pp. 165–166.

Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy selected the F-104 soon after as well, and the four European nations set up four production groups to jointly manufacture the F-104G under license. ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft'' (ARGE) South consisted of Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Dornier, and Siebel; ARGE North comprised Hamburger Flugzeugbau, Focke-Wulf, and Weserflug in Germany, as well as Fokker and Aviolanda in the Netherlands; the West Group was made of SABCA and Avions Fairey in Belgium; and the Italian Group was formed of Fiat, Macchi, Piaggio, SACA, and SIAI-Marchetti.Kropf 2002, pp. 19–21. The four groups were contracted to manufacture 210, 350, 189, and 200 F-104G aircraft, respectively.Donald 2003, p. 152. In addition, 1,225 J79 turbojets were also produced under license by BMW in Germany, Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, and Alfa Romeo in Italy.Donald 2003, p. 154.Kropf 2002, p. 21. Canada, who had also chosen the Starfighter to fulfill its NATO obligations, delivered 121 sets of wings, aft fuselages, and tail assemblies built by Canadair to Europe while it constructed 200 CF-104s with Orenda-built engines for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Later the two would also build an additional 110 MAP-funded F-104Gs destined for Europe.Cacutt 1988, p. 166. Lockheed for its part built 191 two-seat trainers for both Europe and Canada, as well as supplying spares and technical support.

The multinational consortium formed a central coordination office named NASMO (NATO Starfighter Management Office) in Koblenz, Germany, which succeeded in achieving a high level of standardization and cooperation. This was evidenced by an F-104G being assembled in April 1963 at Erding Air Base in Germany consisting of components constructed in all four European partner countries. However, this central coordination resulted in long delays in implementing needed modifications and upgrades. Some of the modifications that were proposed during this time, mainly from the Joint Test Force at Edwards AFB in California, were the installation of an arrester hook, a standby attitude indicator, and the emergency engine nozzle closure system.

In all, 2,578 F-104s were produced by Lockheed and under license by various foreign manufacturers.Matricardi 2006, p. 129.

Design

Airframe

The Starfighter's airframe was all-metal, primarily duralumin with some stainless steel and titanium.Dobrzyński 2015, p. 107. The fuselage was approximately two and a half times as long as the airplane's wingspan. The wings were centered on the horizontal reference plane, or along the longitudinal centerline of the fuselage, and were located substantially farther aft on the fuselage than most contemporary designs. The aft fuselage was elevated from the horizontal reference plane, resulting a "lifted" tail, and the nose was "drooped". This caused the aircraft to fly nose up, helping to minimize drag. As a result, the pitot tube, air inlet scoops, and engine thrust line were all canted slightly from centerline of the fuselage.Upton 2003, p. 21.

The F-104 featured a radical wing design. Most jet fighters of the period used a swept-wing or delta-wing, which balanced aerodynamic performance, lift, and internal space for fuel and equipment. The Lockheed tests determined that the most efficient shape for high-speed supersonic flight was a very small and thin, straight, mid-mounted, trapezoidal wing. Much of the data on the wing shape was derived from testing done with the experimental unmanned Lockheed X-7, which used a wing of a similar shape.Upton 2003, pp. 21–22. The leading edge of the wing was swept back at 26 degrees, with the trailing edge swept forward by a slightly smaller amount.

The new wing design was extremely thin, with a thickness-to- chord ratio of only 3.36% and an aspect ratio of 2.45.Pace 1992, p. 13. The wing's leading edges were so thin () that they were a hazard to ground crews. Hence, protective guards were installed on them during maintenance. The thinness of the wings required fuel tanks and landing gear to be placed in the fuselage, and the hydraulic cylinders driving the ailerons were limited to thickness to fit.Davies 2014, p. 8.

The small, highly loaded wing caused an unacceptably high landing speed, even after adding both leading- and trailing-edge flaps. Thus, designers developed a boundary layer control system, or BLCS, of high-pressure bleed air, which was blown over the trailing-edge flaps to lower landing speeds by more than , and help make landing safer.Davies 2014, p. 11.Upton 2003, p. 22. Flapless landings would be without the BLCS engaged, as flaps in the "land" position were required for its operation. Landing without the BLCS engaged was only done in emergencies and could be a harrowing experience, especially at night.Bowman 2000, p. 122.

The stabilator (fully moving horizontal stabilizer) was mounted atop the fin to reduce inertia coupling. Because the vertical fin was only slightly shorter than the length of each wing and nearly as aerodynamically effective, it could act as a wing-on-rudder application, rolling the aircraft in the opposite direction of rudder input. To offset this effect, the wings were canted downward at a 10° negative-dihedral (anhedral) angle.Bowman 2000, p. 28. This downward canting also improved roll control during high-G maneuvers, common in air-to-air combat.

The fuselage had a high fineness ratio. It was slender, tapered towards the sharp nose, and had a small frontal area. The tightly packed fuselage contained the radar, cockpit, cannon, fuel, landing gear, and engine. The fuselage and wing combination provided low drag except at high angle of attack (alpha), at which point induced drag became very high. The F-104 had good acceleration, rate of climb, and top speed, but its sustained turn performance was poor. A "clean" (no external weapons or fuel tanks) F-104 could sustain a 7- g turn below 5,000 feet with full afterburner. Given the aircraft's prodigious fuel consumption at that altitude and relatively small fuel capacity, such a maneuver would dramatically reduce its time on station.Bashow 1986, p. 24.

Engine

The F-104 was designed to use the General Electric J79 turbojet engine,Donald 1997, p. 578. fed by side-mounted intakes with fixed inlet cones optimized for performance at Mach 1.7 (increased to Mach 2 for later F-104s equipped with more powerful J79-GE-19 engines).Davies 2014, p. 10. Unlike some supersonic aircraft, the F-104 did not have variable-geometry inlets; instead at high Mach numbers excess air was bypassed around the engine. This bypass air also helped cool the engine. Its thrust-to-drag ratio was excellent, allowing a maximum speed well in excess of Mach 2. Available thrust was actually limited by the geometry of the inlet scoop and duct; the aircraft was capable of even higher Mach numbers if the aluminum skin of the aircraft were able to withstand the heating due to air friction. Furthermore, speeds above Mach 2 quickly overheated the J79 engine beyond its thermal capabilities, which resulted in the F-104 being given a design airspeed limitation of Mach 2.Upton 2003, pp. 24–25.

The engine consisted of a 17-stage compressor, an accessory drive section, an annular combustion chamber, a three-stage turbine, and an afterburner. The most powerful version of the J79, the J79-GE-19, was rated at dry thrust and with afterburner. Bleed air from the compressor's 17th stage was used for a number of purposes: the BLCS, cabin pressurization and air conditioning, hot-air jet rain removal, fuel transfer, canopy and windshield defogging and defrosting, pressure for the pilot's anti-G suit, pressurization and cooling of the nose-mounted radar equipment, and purging of gas from the M61 autocannon. The accessory drive ran two hydraulic pumps, two variable-frequency generators, the generator for the tachometer, and pumps for engine fuel and oil.Dobrzyński 2015, pp. 108, 112, 114.Upton 2003, p. 30.

Armament

The basic armament of the F-104 was the M61 Vulcan autocannon. As the first aircraft to carry the weapon, testing of the Starfighter revealed issues with the initial version of the M61: the Gatling-mechanism cannon suffered problems with its linked ammunition, being prone to misfeed and presenting a foreign object damage (FOD) hazard as discarded links were occasionally sucked into the engine. A linkless ammunition feed system was developed for the upgraded M61A1 installed in the F-104C; the M61A1 has subsequently been used by a wide variety of American combat aircraft.

The cannon, mounted in the lower part of the port fuselage, was fed by a 725-round drum behind the pilot's seat. With its firing rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, the cannon would empty the drum after just over seven seconds of continuous fire. The cannon was omitted in all the two-seat models and some single-seat versions including reconnaissance aircraft, with the gun bay and ammunition drum typically replaced by additional fuel tanks.Fricker and Jackson 1996, p. 47.

Two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles could be carried on the wingtip stations, which could also be used for fuel tanks. The F-104C and later models added a centerline pylon and two underwing pylons for bombs, rocket pods, or fuel tanks; the centerline pylon could carry a nuclear weapon. A "catamaran" launcher for two additional Sidewinders could be fitted under the forward fuselage, although the installation had minimal ground clearance and so rendered the seeker heads of the missiles vulnerable to ground debris. The two F-104S variants added a pair of fuselage pylons beneath the intakes for conventional bomb carriage and an additional pylon under each wing, for a total of nine.

Early Starfighters were also capable of carrying and launching a single MB-1 (AIR-2A Genie) rocket-powered nuclear missile using an extending trapeze launcher. This configuration was tested on a single aircraft but was not adopted for service use; however, NASA later used it for launching test rockets.Davies 2014, p. 15.

Avionics

The initial USAF Starfighters had a basic RCA AN/ASG-14T1 ranging radar, tactical air navigation system (TACAN), and an AN/ARC-34 UHF radio. The AN/ASG-14 fire control system used a pencil-beam radar antenna with two independent sights: one optical and one infrared. Early versions of the radar had a range of approximately in search mode, with later models reaching up to ; the scan pattern was spiral, covering a 90-degree cone. Search mode was usable only above due to ground return effects below that altitude. Track mode was usable within of the target, which narrowed the scan to 20 degrees and initiated a strobe sweep between in auto-acquisition mode. The radar also had a third, receive-only mode useful for locking onto sources of interference from electronic countermeasures (ECM).Davies 2014, p. 13.

In the late 1960s, Lockheed developed a more advanced version of the Starfighter, the F-104S, for use by the Italian Air Force. Similar to the F-104G, Lockheed produced two main variants of the F-104S: an all-weather interceptor (''caccia intercettore'', CI) and a strike aircraft (''caccia bombardiere'', CB). The CI variant received a FIAR/NASARR F15G radar with AIM-7 Sparrow guidance capability; however, the new missile-guidance avionics came at the expense of the M61A1 Vulcan cannon, which was removed to make room. The CB variant was equipped with a FIAR/NASARR R21G-H radar and a radar altimeter for low-level strike missions, retaining the cannon as its only air-to-air weapon.Dobrzyński 2015, p. 51.

As part of the ''Aggiornamento Sistema d'Arma'' (ASA), or "Weapons System Upgrade" in the mid-1980s, both variants were given an ALQ-70/72 ECM and a FIAR/NASARR R-21G/M1 radar with frequency hopping and look-down/shoot-down capability. The new radar and guidance systems enabled the aircraft to carry the new AIM-9L Sidewinder infrared-guided missile (replacing the older AIM-9B) as well as the AIM-7 Sparrow and the Selenia Aspide radar-guided missiles.Dobrzyński 2015, p. 52.

Ejection seat

Early Starfighters used a downward-firing ejection seat (the Stanley C-1), out of concern over the ability of an upward-firing seat to clear the "T-tail" empennage. This presented obvious problems in low-altitude escapes, and 21 USAF pilots, including test pilot Captain Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr., failed to escape from their stricken aircraft in low-level emergencies because of it. The downward-firing seat was replaced by the Lockheed C-2 upward-firing seat, which was capable of clearing the tail, but still had a minimum speed limitation of .Upton 2003, p. 35. Many export Starfighters were later retrofitted with Martin-Baker Mk.7 "zero-zero" (zero altitude and zero airspeed) ejection seats.

Production assembly

The Starfighter was designed for production rates of up to 20 airplanes per day from a single assembly line. The entire aircraft was designed for modular assembly and disassembly. The two principal fuselage sections were split along the vertical centerline and completely assembled in two separate halves. All equipment, including wiring and plumbing, were installed inside the two-halves before being joined. The wings were then attached with ten bolts plus a fairing.Upton 2003, pp. 16–19.

Operational history

U.S. Air Force

Although the F-104 was designed as an air-superiority fighter, the United States Air Force's immediate need at the time was for a supersonic interceptor. In the late 1950s, the United States government believed it was significantly behind the USSR in terms of the size of its jet-powered bomber fleet. In response, the USAF had ordered two interceptors from Convair, the F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-106 Delta Dart, but both aircraft were experiencing long development delays. The Starfighter's speed and rate-of-climb performance intrigued the Air Force, who pressed the F-104A into service as an interim interceptor with the Air Defense Command (ADC), even though its range and armament were not well-suited for the role. On 26 February 1958, the first unit to become operational with the F-104A was the 83rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) at Hamilton AFB, California.

The newly operational aircraft experienced problems with both the J79 engine and M61 cannon, and after three months of service, the unit was grounded following a series of engine-related accidents. The aircraft were then fitted with the J79-GE-3B engine and another three ADC units were equipped with the F-104A. During this time, the Air Force's interest in the Starfighter was waning due to a shift in strategy toward fighters with longer ranges and heavier ordnance loads.Davies 2014, p. 19. As a result, the USAF reduced their orders of the F-104A from 722 to 170,Pace 1992, p. 32. and the F-104A and F-104B aircraft of the 83rd, 56th and 337th FIS were handed over to the 151st, 157th and 197th FIS of the Air National Guard (ANG) after less than a year of service with the ADC.Bowman 2000, p. 45.

Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958

In August 1958, only a few months after establishing operational readiness with the F-104, the 83rd FIS was assigned to an air defense and deterrence mission in Taiwan after the People's Republic of China began an intense artillery campaign against the Republic of China (ROC) on the disputed islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Tension between the two forces was high; artillery duels were ongoing since the first crisis in 1954 and the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) had recently relocated 200 MiG-15s and MiG-17s to airfields on the mainland to fight against the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF). According to Colonel Howard "Scrappy" Johnson, one of the F-104 pilots deployed to Taiwan, the Starfighters' presence was so the PLAAF would "track them on their radar screens ... and sit back and scratch their head in awe."Davies 2014, p. 22.Bowman 2000, p. 44.

On 10 September, the first F-104s arrived in Taiwan, delivered disassembled by C-124 Globemaster II transport aircraft. This was the first time that air transport was used to move fighter aircraft long distances. Within 30 hours of arriving, First Lieutenant Crosley J. Fitton had the first of the 83rd's airplanes in the air, and by 19 September the entire unit was ready for day or night alert status. The F-104 flew a number of supersonic runs between Taiwan and mainland China at speeds up to Mach 2 as an air-superiority demonstration, and though there were no direct enemy engagements prior to withdrawal after a ceasefire was agreed on 6 October, the Starfighter provided a significant deterrent effect. USAF Gen Laurence Cuter, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Air Forces, reported that the F-104A had "made a tremendous impression on both sides of the Taiwan Strait".Davies 2014, pp. 22–25.

Berlin Crisis of 1961

During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, President John F. Kennedy ordered 148,000 United States National Guard

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