Frozen in time the Aeritalia F-104S Starfighter stands as a testament to Italian aviation history. The Aeritalia F-104S Starfighter served as the Italian Air Force’s mainstay. This aircraft was vital from the late 1960s until the early 21st century.
Derived from Lockheed’s Super Starfighter studies the F-104S became one of the most capable F-104 versions. It was destined to be the last in service worldwide. Upgraded to ASA/M standard the F-104S retired in October 2004.
Italy needed a new interceptor and fighter-bomber. This need arose because 23 F-104G aircraft were lost in the first five years of Italian service. Only 80 to 90 of the 149 acquired F-104s were operational.
AMI sought a new all-weather fighter aircraft. Evaluations included the McDonnell Douglas F-4B/C Phantom and the Dassault Mirage IIIC-1. The BAC Lightning and North American F-100S Super Sabre were considered too. The Lockheed CL-980 was eventually chosen. It was a simplified version of the projected Model CL-901. The AMI chose the definitive F-104S as their future fighter on January 26 1966.
MM6658 a modified Fiat-built F-104G was the first F-104S. It served as an aerodynamic prototype. It first flew on December 22 1966. MM6660 a second prototype had new avionics systems. This prototype flew on February 28 1967. Aeritalia built the first production F-104S MM.6701. It flew on December 30 1968.
The F-104S could carry AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. This meant deleting the Vulcan gun. The F-104S had nine hardpoints for attack missions. It could carry seven 227 kg or 340 kg bombs. This was an improvement over the F-104G. The F-104G could only lift half that on five hardpoints. Two of these were needed for auxiliary tanks. An F-104S could carry four or five bombs. It also held two droptanks and two AIM-9s. This made it a dual-role aircraft.
The new type entered service in mid-1969. It served with 22° Gruppo 51° Stormo. The F-104S accumulated 460 flying hours that year. The AMI bought 205 examples. Deliveries ran from 1969 to 1979. The 100th aircraft was delivered in January 1973. The 200th came in May 1976.
Lockheed and Aeritalia agreed to market the F-104S in late 1973. They also agreed to joint engineering work on Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer prototypes. The model came in two versions. One was an interceptor armed with AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. The M61 Vulcan was removed. The other was a fighter bomber. It retained the gun and carried bombs. The models were interchangeable. It is unclear how many were built or rebuilt to these specifications.
The J79-GE-19 allowed faster climbs. It was comparable to contemporary fighters. It climbed up to 277 m/s. The time-to-climb 10600 m was 80 seconds. This was ten seconds less than the F-104G. It could reach Mach 2 at 12000 m in about five minutes. Aeritalia test pilot Napoleone Bragagnolo flew from Turin to Ciampino Rome in 19 minutes 30 seconds. He climbed 15 km and accelerated to Mach 2. The aircraft landed with 1300 L of fuel enough to reach Palermo at subsonic speeds. The average flight speed was Mach 1.5.
Loss rates remained high. Peaks occurred in 1973 and 1975. Italy lost 137 of its F-104s by 1997. This is 38 percent in 928000 flying hours. That equates to 14.7 aircraft every 100000 hours. The mass media nicknamed it bara volante. This means flying casket.
Now standing before the Aereo Lockheed F-104S consider its impressive capabilities. Imagine the skill of the pilots who soared through the skies. Think about its impact on aviation history. The F-104 Starfighter a true icon remains an integral part of Palermo’s heritage.