By 1963, the USAF had revised its plans for the F-104, cutting its initial orders for 722 jets down to 296. It also decided to return the ANG F-104As to ADC national control.
Designed by Lockheed’s prominent engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson to surpass the MiG-15 fighters that had amazed the aviation industry during the Korean War, the F-104 Starfighter represented a significant shift: a low-cost, lightweight fighter featuring slim, seven-foot wings that resembled the edge of a knife. It not only could achieve speeds of Mach 2 but was also robust enough to withstand any storm that approached it.
The United States Air Force acquired the F-104 for the Air Defense Command (ADC) as a temporary interceptor until the F-106 became available. F-104s were destined to be brief occupants of the interceptor alert ‘pads’ because they were unable to support the electronic systems necessary for full integration into America’s sophisticated SAGE (semi-automatic ground environment) defense network.
The short ‘stop gap’ phase of ADC service concluded with the retirement of its F-104As and their reassignment to Air National Guard (ANG) squadrons.
As described by Peter E. Davies in his book “F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat,” the USAF revised its acquisition plans for the F-104 by 1963, reducing the initial order from 722 jets to 296. The ANG’s F-104As were also returned to ADC’s national control. Maj. Gen. Stan Hood, a Starfighter pilot with the South Carolina Air National Guard (SCANG), attributed this change largely to the results of a high-altitude mission during which he was launched from a five-minute alert status to intercept an “intruder.” Unaware of the target’s identity, Hood’s “target” was being trailed by an F-101 flying at 56,000 feet, the Voodoo’s maximum operational altitude.
`I went by the F-101 at Mach 2. If I’d had communication with that aeroplane, I could have contacted him, but I had no reason to. I could have gone up another 10,000 ft with no trouble at all, but I slowed down with a split-S maneuver at 63,000 ft and returned to base, as I was getting too far south. When I got back, I called the F-101 pilot, and he said, “Was that you that went by me?” I said, -Where was the real target then?” He replied that it was 15,000 ft above him and 20 miles in front. We were sworn to secrecy but were later told that the target was a U-2, probably a CIA one, and we had been sent, without partial pressure suits, to establish what it was.
‘Later, Gen. Curtis LeMay from the USAF operations staff said, “What is the Air National Guard doing with our only high-altitude interceptor? I want those aeroplanes back on active duty with or without the pilots”. We had recently returned from a nine-month tour in Europe, and as reserve pilots, we didn’t want to go back on active duty just so he could have our aeroplanes. He was told that he could have the aeroplanes without the pilots, so they gave us the F-102A Delta Dagger instead.’
F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
