F-104A (China)

␗F-104A

␗F-100A

␗F-104G

␗F-104A

␗F-100A

␗F-104G

China

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.7	9.3	9.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:220 000

Purchase:620 000

Show in game

This page is about the jet fighter F-104A (China). For other versions, see F-104 (Family).

Description

The ␗F-104A Starfighter is a rank VI Chinese 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	2,104	2,079	18900	32.4	33.0	190.9	182.9	1,180
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	546	N/A	833	444	~12	~5

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 720	< 950	< 800	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic Mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
General Electric J79-GE-3		1	6,182 kg		513 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel
1,750 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		6,947 kg	7,712 kg	8,477 kg	8,859 kg	24,000 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	10m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	35m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	3,936 kgf	6,061 kgf	0.87	0.79	0.71	0.68	0.25
Optimal	3,936 kgf (0 km/h)	7,751 kgf (1,200 km/h)	1.12	1.00	0.91	0.87	0.32

Survivability and armour

The F-104A is not equipped with any armour plating, and is therefore rather vulnerable to enemy fire, especially given the fact that most enemies at this rank sport high-calibre cannons. Since the plane's wings are so small, any damage to them at all drastically reduces stability and manoeuvrability, and may result in a crash. All of the vehicle's fuel tanks are centrally located, so fuel fires are unlikely to occur. However, the engine is very large, so it is very likely that it will sustain heavy damage if the vehicle is fired upon.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F-104A (China) is armed with:

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

Suspended armament

The F-104A (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles

Usage in battles

The F-104A does one thing extremely well: speed. This is the vehicle's greatest advantage and can be used to great effect if the pilot is careful about choosing which engagements to pursue. It is recommended to keep up a high air-speed at all times, which will allow the F-104A to swoop in and out of the combat zone while evading enemies. Sometimes, it is even possible to outrun enemy air-to-air missiles. At this battle rating, the F-104A is able to greatly outspeed the vast majority of its opponents.

However, the F-104 struggles with manoeuvrability. With such small wings, it simply can't produce the lift necessary to throw itself around the sky and therefore has a very poor turning circle. This means that any turning engagement is most likely futile, and also reemphasizes the utility of a boom and zoom playstyle.

This vehicle also lacks in the weaponry department. Although it has an M61 (20 mm) Vulcan cannon, the only air-to-air missiles to which the plane has access is the AIM-9B. At this high battle rating, these early missiles are simply not enough to reliably destroy enemy targets, and the best way to use them is to target only slow-moving enemies. What's more, this vehicle is only equipped with two of them.

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair			Offensive 20mm
II		Compressor	Airframe		AIM-9B
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 20mm cannons
IV	G-suit		Cover

The pilot should focus first on researching the Fuselage repair and the AIM-9B modifications. After that, it is recommended to research the remaining Flight performance modules before moving on to the Survivability modules.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Much faster than most enemies
• Great climb-rate
• Above-average manoeuvring energy retention

Cons:

• Inadequate air-to-air missiles
• Very poor manoeuvrability
• Unable to equip bombs or rockets

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.

Lockheed Corporation
Fighters	XP-38G · P-38E · P-38G-1 · P-38J-15 · Bong's P-38J-15 · P-38K · P-38L-5-LO · YP-38
Bombers	B-34 · PV-2D
Jet Fighters	F-80A-5 · F-80C-10
	F-104A · F-104C
Strike Aircraft	F-117
Export / License	A-29 · ▄Hudson Mk V
	␗P-38L-1
	␗F-104A · ▀F-104G · ␗F-104G · ▄F-104G · ▅F-104J · ▄F-104S
	The Lockheed Corporation merged with Martin Marietta Corporation in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin Corporation.
See Also	SABCA · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Fiat Aviation