F-104C

F-104C

F-104A

F-5E

F-104C

F-104A

F-5E

USA

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.7	9.3	9.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:94 000

Purchase:520 000

Show in game

Description

The F-104C Starfighter is a rank VI American jet fighter with a battle rating of 9.7 (AB/SB) and 9.3 (RB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 10,668 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	___	___	17678	__._	__._	__._	__._	1,200
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	546	___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	N/A

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F-104C is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm M61 cannon, -mounted (750 rpg)

Suspended armament

The F-104C can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 3 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (2,250 lb total)
• 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
• 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles
• 3 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (2,250 lb total)
• 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I
II
III
IV

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

• Good top speed, on par with the highest-tier aircraft.
• Great rate of climb; even the F-4 Phantom may struggle to match it.
• Good roll rate for a jet with tiny wings.
• Decent high-speed maneuverability.
• Powerful M61 Vulcan cannon can rip enemy aircraft to shreds.
• Much-improved selection of secondary ordinance over the F-104A.

Cons:

• Lousy low-speed maneuverability.
• Bleeds energy easily in sustained turn fights.
• Limited afterburner in Arcade Battles.
• Only 750 rounds of cannon ammo; with such a high rate of fire, trigger discipline is a must.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.