Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

The Lockheed F—104 was one of the most popular supersonic aircraft in history, although it did not gain recognition in its home country, the United States. Nevertheless, it was used and modernized in fifteen countries around the world. It was the first combat plane to exceed the speed of two Machs, and the first to use the six—barrel M61 Vulcan cannon for combat.

The Korean War showed that the US Air Force did not have much advantage in the air over machines from the USSR, especially when it...