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Latest generation aircraft
The official formation of the German Armed Forces took place in November 1955, and the rapid build-up of several operational wings of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and the Marineflieger (Naval Aviation) began immediately with the weapon systems F/RF-84F, Sabre VI, F- 86K and Sea Hawk.
As told by Klaus Kropf in his book German Starfighters, The Story in colour: Introduction and Units, during this build-up phase, the Air Force Command had already begun the search for a successor mode for these aircraft. To be an equal partner in the European spearhead of NATO in central Europe, the German Air Force had to be equipped with a modern aircraft of the latest generation at the beginning of the 1960s. For financial reasons, a successor model was sought that could take on all operational roles, from interceptor to naval fighter-bomber.
In the course of 1957, three aircraft were finally selected. Besides the French Mirage III, two American models – the Grumman F11F-1F Super Tiger and the F-104 Starfighter – were considered. Test flights were conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Albert Werner and Major Walter Krupinski, Officer Commanding (OC) Waffenschule 30, the F-84F Weapon School. The small evaluation team proposed the selection of the F-104 as successor to most of the German Armed Forces’ previous jet fighter aircraft.
F-104G ‘all-rounder’ Starfighter
Lockheed promised a significantly improved Starfighter which, after modifications to the airframe and the installation of a modern fire control system, a more powerful engine, an updated radar and a inertial navigation system, was to satisfy all the future tasks of the German Air Force.
In autumn 1958, the Federal Ministry of Defence decided in favour of the F-104G, the ‘all-rounder’ Starfighter promised by Lockheed. The Defence Committee of the German Parliament endorsed this decision and approved the purchase on 6 November 1958. Just a few months later, on 6 February 1959, the first purchase contract was signed with Lockheed for the acquisition of 66 F-104Gs. Barely six weeks later, on 18 March 1959, the purchase contract for 30 F-104F two-seaters and 210 F-104Gs, to be built under licence, followed. Less than a year later, in early February 1960, the first six Luftwaffe pilots flew to the United States to begin flight training. At the same time, the first training for technical personnel took place at Lockheed in Palmdale, California.
Thus began almost 30 years of employment of the Starfighter weapon system by the Luftwaffe and the Marineflieger.
The first purchase contract with Lockheed on 6 February 1959 was for the construction of 66 F-104G Starfighters at Lockheed in Palmdale, California. These F-104Gs were later dismantled after construction and brought to Germany by air or sea freight to be handed over to the Luftwaffe after reassembly by Messerschmitt (MTT) at Manching. Some of these F-104Gs initially remained at Edwards AFB for the Joint Test Force flights.
NASMO
The next contract of sale, dated 18 March 1959, was for 30 F-104F two-seaters to be built by Lockheed and for 210 F-104Gs to be built under licence by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sud (ARGE-South, Working Group South) in Germany. The ARGE-South comprised the companies Dornier, Siebel, Heinkel and MTT, with the final assembly of the aircraft taking place by MTT at Ingolstadt-Manching. Belgium and the Netherlands conducted evaluations of a new fighter aircraft in parallel with Germany. Here, too, the decision was made in favour of the F-104G, so that the three nations – Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands – agreed on a joint European Starfighter production.
For this purpose, a co-ordination office, the NATO Starfighter Management Office (NASMO), was set up, with its headquarters at Koblenz, Germany. Italy also selected the F-104G as its new fighter aircraft in 1960 and joined the European Starfighter production In addition to ARGE-South, three other production groups were formed to build the Starfighter in Europe. There was ARGE-North, with Hamburger Flugzeugbau, Weserflug, Aviolanda, Avio Dieper and Fokker, whereby the final assembly was carried out by Fokker at Schiphol, Netherlands. There was also ARGE-West, with Avions Fairy, FIAT, Siebel, Heinkel and SABCA. The final assembly of this group was handled by SABCA at Gosselies, Belgium. The third additional production group was ARGE-Italy, with Macchi, Piaggio, SACA, Aeronavali, SIAI-Marchetti and FIAT, with final assembly provided by FIAT at Turin-Caselle, Italy.
Germany concluded further purchase contracts for 424 F-104Gs in 1960-61, with all but 30 to be built by European production groups. A total of 137 TF-104Gs were ordered between 1961 and 1965, again with the majority of the aircraft being built by European production groups under a complex work-sharing arrangement.
917 F-104s ordered by Germany
In October 1969, a final contract was signed for the construction of a further 50 F-104G Starfighters to replace previous losses. These aircraft were built by ARGE-South and by VFW in 1971-72. The German Armed Forces ordered a total of 917 Starfighters. One F-104G from the ARGE- West was given to the Belgian Air Force as a replacement for a loss, so that a total of 916 Starfighters entered service with the German military.
In parallel to Starfighter production, the General Electric J 79-GE-11A engine was built under licence in Europe. Three companies in Belgium, Germany and Italy received the construction contracts, with each company producing about one-third of all engine components. The three companies were BMW-Triebwerksbau GmbH at Munich-Allach, Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerres (FN) in Belgium and FIAT in Italy.
German Starfighters, The Story in colour: Introduction and Units is published by Key Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo credit: German Federal Archive and U.S. Air Force
