F-104S
Contents
Description
The F-104S Starfighter is a rank VII Italian jet fighter
with a battle rating of 11.0 (AB), 11.3 (RB), and 10.7 (SB). 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 15,240 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | ___ | ___ | 16000 | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | 850 |
| 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-104S is armed with:
- 1 x 20 mm M61 cannon, -mounted (750 rpg)
Suspended armament
The F-104S can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 6 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (1,500 lb total)
- 7 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (3,500 lb total)
- 7 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (5,250 lb total)
- 3 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs (3,000 lb total)
- 1 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bomb (2,000 lb total)
- 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
- 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets
- 6 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles
- 6 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (1,500 lb total)
- 5 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (2,500 lb total)
- 5 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (3,750 lb total)
- 3 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (3,000 lb total)
- 1 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bomb + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles (2,000 lb total)
- 5 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs + 38 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets (2,500 lb total)
- 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets
- 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP 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 for its rank.
- Great rate of climb
- Its Vulcan gun can do some serious damage.
- Significantly wider variety of payload options than early F-104s.
- Decent high-speed maneuverability, in spite of its tiny wings.
- Good roll rate for a jet.
Cons:
- Lousy maneuverability at low speeds.
- Bleeds off airspeed easily in sustained turns.
- Only 750 rounds of cannon ammo; 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.
| Italy jet aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Aerfer | Sagittario 2 · Ariete |
| Fiat | G.91 pre-serie · G.91 R/1 · G.91 R/4 (Portugal) · G.91 Y · G.91 YS |
| AMX International | AMX · AMX A-1A (Brazil) |
| Panavia | Tornado ADV · ▄Tornado IDS · ▄Tornado IDS (1995) |
| Foreign: | |
| Vampire | Vampire FB 52A |
| F-84 | ▄F-84F · ▄F-84G-21-RE |
| F-86 | CL-13 Mk.4 · ▄F-86K |
| F-104 | ▄F-104G · F-104S · ▄F-104S TAF (Turkey) · F-104S.ASA |
| F-16 | ▄F-16A ADF |
| AV-8 | ▄AV-8B Plus |
| Hungary | |
| Mikoyan-Gurevich | ◔MiG-15bis · ◔MiG-17PF · ◔MiG-21MF · ◔MiG-21bis-SAU · ◔MiG-23MF · ◔MiG-29 |
| Ilyushin | ◔IL-28 |
| Sukhoi | ◔Su-22M3 |
| Saab | ◔JAS39EBS HU C |
