F-104S TAF (Italy)

This page is about the premium jet fighter F-104S TAF (Italy). For other versions, see F-104 (Family).

▄F-104S TAF

▄F-104S TAF

Italy

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.0	11.3	10.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Jet fighter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Description

During the Cuban Missile Crisis era, the Turkish Air Force bought the F-104S from Italy to increase the combat capabilities of their air force already equipped with 2 squadrons of F-4E. Turkey bought 40 new F-104S interceptors from FIAT in 1974-1975.

Introduced in Update "Apex Predators", the F-104S (TAF) is rather complicated to use because of its lack of manoeuvrability. The aircraft can be used both as a CAS and an air superiority platform due to its excellent acceleration and climb rate, as well as a ballistic computer to aid in use of ordnance. You can rely on both the AIM-9P and AIM-7E SARH air-to-air missiles to shoot down enemy planes and helicopters during battles, or use a payload of bombs or rockets to act as CAS for your allies in Ground Battles, while the available flare/chaff can be used to ward off enemy threats. In comparison to the tech tree F-104S, the TAF carries the 20 mm minigun under the fuselage instead of in the nose.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 15 240 m2 387 km/h

Turn time34 s

Max altitude16 000 m

EngineGeneral Electric J79-GE-19

Type

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight24 t

The vehicle itself is totally identical to its tech-tree counterpart but with Turkish markings. One of the most distinctive features of the F-104 series is the pencil-like airframe with extremely thin and small control surfaces: the F-104S is no exception. It also carries an engine with very similar thrust to the J79-GE-17 of the F-4 Phantom, making it even faster than previous models. However, this increase in thrust doesn't change the drawback of the F-104 series - its manoeuvrability. Due to the design calling for the highest possible climb rate to counter Soviet bombers and earlier jets of its era (e.g. MiG-19), it has some of the thinnest wings of any jet aircraft. Although it has a pair of flaps able to be extended even at 900 km/h for extra manoeuvrability, in most cases, if the target is not something as huge as a B-29 Superfortress, chances are that players may get drawn into energy fights with enemies which could be extra challenging to handle due to the infamous lack of manoeuvrability. Be sure not to be baited into a dogfight, and finish an engagement as fast as possible as more speed means more odds to survive the battle.

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	2,344	2,316	16000	34.5	34.7	225.5	216.5	850
Upgraded	2,431	2,387		33.5	34.0	297.4	260.0

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	+	-
1,527	546	N/A	827	444	~12	~4

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-19		1	6,850 kg		565 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		9m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	32m fuel
1,740 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		7,722 kg	8,645 kg	9,543 kg	9,758 kg	13,110 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	9m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	32m fuel	MGW
Stationary	4,992 kgf	7,688 kgf	1.00	0.89	0.80	0.79	0.59
Optimal	5,044 kgf (1,200 - 1,400 km/h)	10,253 kgf (1,200 km/h)	1.33	1.18	1.07	1.05	0.78

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear546 km/h

Like its tech tree counterpart, the TAF F-104S also has no additional protection against oncoming shots. What makes the situation even more dire is that it also doesn't equip an EFS onboard: in case of an engine fire, players will have to pray that it burns out naturally before structural failure. In most cases, with the engine damaged by different means or other damage onboard, the F-104S will have an extremely hard time returning for a repair.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 960

RB5 812

SB6 208

Crew training10 000

Experts1 160 000

Aces2 800

Research Aces2 150 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 110 / 300 / 600 %

2 × 232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor New boosters Wings repair Engine	Fuselage repair Airframe G-suit Cover	M60_belt_pack Mk81 Flares/Chaff LAU-3/A BLU-1 Mk82 LAU-10/A LAU-10/A AIM-7E M60_new_gun M117 AIM-9B Mk83 Mk84 AIM-9P

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The F-104S TAF (Italy) is armed with:

• A choice between two presets:
  • Without offensive armament
  • 60 x countermeasures

Suspended armament

The F-104S TAF (Italy) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20 mm M61A1 cannons (750 rpg)						1*
250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs		1	1	1			1	1	1
500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs		1	1	1	1		1	1	1
500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs		1	1	1	1		1	1	1
750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs		1	1	1	1		1	1	1
1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs			1		1			1
2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bombs					1
BLU-1 incendiary bombs		1	1	1	1		1	1	1
FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets		19	19					19	19
Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets		4							4
AIM-7E Sparrow missiles		1*							1*
AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles	1	1		1			1		1	1
AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles	1	1		1			1		1	1
Maximum permissible loadout weight: 3,400 kg Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 500 kg
* AIM-7E Sparrow missiles cannot be equipped in conjunction with the 20 mm M61A1 cannon.

Default weapon presets

Without load 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon (750 rpg) + 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 2 x AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 6 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 6 x AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles 2 x AIM-7E Sparrow missiles 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 76 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 8 x Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP rockets 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 6 x 250 lb LDGP Mk 81 bombs (1,500 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 7 x 500 lb LDGP Mk 82 bombs (3,500 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 7 x 500 lb Mk 82 Snakeye bombs (3,500 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 7 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (5,250 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 3 x 1,000 lb LDGP Mk 83 bombs (3,000 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 1 x 2,000 lb LDGP Mk 84 bomb (2,000 lb total) 1 x 20 mm M61A1 cannon + 7 x BLU-1 incendiary bombs

Usage in battles

Being a member of the Starfighter family, the F-104S excels excellently at its main feature - speed and climb rate. As one of the earliest jets to hit Mach 2.0 at high altitude, the design doctrine called for the maximum climb rate and speed possible, resulting in the pencil-like airframe. Players will soon find it very different from other jets of its tier: while those jets would still have the chance to succeed in a dogfight to a certain extent, this is not the case for F-104S. The jet itself does have varieties of air-to-air weaponries, such as later series of rear-aspect Sidewinders and even Sparrows at its disposal, the jet itself does also come with an M61 cannon on the port side of the airframe. At first glance this might sound pleasing as there are 6 missiles in total for the jet, but when players decided to equip AIM-7Es, they will find that the only cannon onboard is removed to fit the Sparrow guidance equipment.

The other thing that hinders F-104S is the radar itself. It does have 30 km search range but the scan rate is slow compared to jets at its tier; the overall performance of this radar also hindered as the Sparrow has difficulty handling targets below it - a major drawback for an interceptor. For most air-to-air combats, bringing 6 AIM-9s is more than enough to handle the heated battlefield when delivering strikes upon unaware enemies; if players want to take a bet on head-on fights against targets from below, the pair of Sparrows will make short work of enemies assuming the missiles do track on the target, but make sure every missile counts as these will be the only weapons onboard. However, the high velocity and rate of fire of the M61 cannon is also often enough to deal with head-on situations.

The F-104S should be used for high-altitude interception or going fast at lower altitudes, being fast helps its survivability; going fast and flying in mostly straight lines around the battlefield, picking off targets that have used up their energy or don't have any flares for the maximum efficiency. Only engage in a dogfight in dire situations or one-on-one battles; use the flaps accordingly as this can compensate for the poor manoeuvrability at speeds below 900 km/h.

While Starfighters are infamous at ground-attacking due to its lack of manoeuvrability at low altitude, the F-104S is able to carry up to 1.36 tons of LDGP bombs or napalm. Players will have to be extremely cautious about their position, diving onto targets or being too fast in this case is not a good idea for F-104S. The ballistic computer will make sure the bombs land on desired targets precisely.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Rather high acceleration and climb rate than previous models
• Varieties of air-to-air/ground weaponry with sufficient overall payload
• Sufficient counter-measures for oncoming missiles
• Relative high ammo pool for its M61 cannon
• High roll-rate at high speed

Cons:

• Installation of AIM-7 missiles trades the internal M61 cannon
• Huge turning radius
• Way high stall speed than conventional jets
• Somewhat inferior radar at its tier with a slow scan rate

History

During the heat of the Cold War when the Cuban Missile Crisis almost brought an end to the world, Turkey, a site of US missile bases overseas, would become the frontline and in dire need for new jets. Later in May 1963, TAF received their first 54 F-104G series from the Military Aid Program (MAP; 48 104Gs and 6 TF-104Gs); this also included hundreds of other F-104G series from other NATO countries where they would be eventually replaced by their selected new jets by the 1980s. Aside from Lockheed and Canadair F-104s, Turkey also became the only export customer of the F-104S series at a total of 40 of them delivered in late 1974 to May 1975.

Their only combat operation was the Invasion of Cyprus where they could have encountered Starfighters from their neighbour across the Aegean Sea, Greece, but both air forces didn't meet each other and the F-104 series were kept in service until TAI's license-assembled F-16Cs arrived and eventually replaced them in the mid-1990s.

This jet, numbered MM6900/75-6900 of the Project Bora-II delivery was then stored as part of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) and later scrapped in June 1995.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the F-104S TAF (Italy) from live.warthunder.com.

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

• [Shop] Pre-order: new rank VII Premium jet fighters (part 1)

References

Fiat Aviation (Fiat Aviazione)
Fighters	CR.32 · CR.32 bis · CR.32 quater
	CR.42 · Marcolin's C.R.42 CN · ▀Marcolin's C.R.42 CN
	G.50 serie 2 · G.50 AS serie 7
	G.55 sottoserie 0 · G.55 serie 1 · G.55S
	G.56
Jet fighters	G.91 pre-serie · G.91 R/1 · G.91 Y · G.91 YS
	▄F-86K*
	▄F-104G* · F-104S* · F-104S.ASA* · ▄F-104S TAF*
Strike aircraft	F.C.20 Bis
Bombers	B.R.20DR · B.R.20M M1
Export/Captured	J11 · ▀CR.42
	▀G.50 serie 2 · ▀G.50 AS serie 7
	◄G.91 R/3 · ◄G.91 R/4 · G.91 R/4
	*Licensed
See also	North American Aviation · Lockheed Martin

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