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West Germany's decision to replace its F-84s and F-86s with the Starfighter was based upon competitive analysis of the 104 against the French Mirage and the Grumman Super Tiger, a derivative of the F-11 design. The starfighter enjoyed a wide margin of strike and reconnisance duties in addition to its demonstrated capability as an interceptor. The mult-mission F-104 embodied several design changes from the F-104C being operated by USAF, among them: Structural upgrading to allow low level high speed penetration and bomb carrying capability, sophisticated avionics which would permit air-to-ground target acquisition and tracking, and all-weather bombing capability.

Unfortunately, several circumstances combined to make the 104 something of an enigma as far as West Germany was concerned. On the one hand, the Luftwaffe could not seem to avoid crashing 104s at an alarming rate. The sophisitcated avionics which made the 104 an all-weather performer were themselves very sensitive to German weather and required and required the kind of maintenance that the inexperienced Luftwaffe ground crews were not able to provide.

The Starfighter's performance was sometimes more than the low-time Luftwaffe pilots could cope with, especially given the unforgiving nature of the beast. Altogether, the Luftwaffe has lost 178 starfighters as of this writing (1975). Strangely enough, the West German Navy, which resisted assignment of the 104 mightily, has had relatively little trouble with its Starfighters. Likewise, the other NATO nations which operated the 104 did so with a fraction of the trouble that the Luftwaffe experienced. The Luftwaffe suffered through the teething problems of the Starfighter, and its experience undoubtedly served to make other country's F-104 transition smoother.

Starfighter Units in Europe - 1975

Key:

Role Abbrev.
Int. =	Interceptor
F/B =	Fighter/Bomber
Recce =	Recconisance
Base
Memm. =	Memmingen
Wittmun. =	Wittmundshafen

Country	Unit (Sqn)	Role	Base	ID Code (if worn)	Replaced by (if)
BELGIUM	349	Int.	Beuavechain
	350	Int.	Beua.
	23	F/B	Kleine Brog.
	31	F/B	K.B.
CANADA	421	I/R	Solingen	NATO Assgn.
	439	I/R	Solingen
	441	I/R	Solingen
DENMARK	723	Int.	Aalborg
	726	Int.	Aalborg
W. GERMANY	Jabo31	F/B	Norvenich	DA until '68
	Jabo32	F/B	Lechfeld	DB until '68
	Jabo33	F/B	Buechel	DC until '68
	Jabo34	F/B	Memm.	DD until '68
	Jabo36	F/B	Hopsten	DF until '68
	AKG51	Rec.	Bremgarten	EA until '68	RF4E
	AKG52	Rec.	Leck	EB until '68	RF4E
	JG71	Int.	Wittmun.	JA until '68	F4F
	JG74	Int.	Neuberg	JD until '68	F4F
	WasLw10	Trng.	Jever	BB until '68
NAVY	MFG1	Strike	Schleswig	VA until '68
	MFG2	Strike	Eggebeck	VB until '68
GREECE	335	Int.	Tanagra
	336	F/B	Araxos
ITALY	18 Gr.	Recce.	Villafranca
	28 Gr.	Recce.
	132 Gr.	Recce.
	9 Gr.	Int.	Grosseto
	23 Gr.	F/B	Rimini
	102 Gr.	F/B	Rimini
	154 Gr.	F/B	Ghedi
	10 Gr.	Int.	Grazzanise
	22 Gr.	Int.	Istrana
	155 Gr.	Int.	Istrana
	156 Gr.	Int.	G. del Colle
	12 Gr.	Int.	G. del Colle
	21 Gr.	Int.	Cameri
NETHLNDS.	306	Recce	Volkel
	311	F/B	Volkel
	312	F/B	Volkel
	322	Int.	Leeuwrdn.
	323	Int.	Leeuwrdn.
NORWAY	331	Int.	Bodo	FN until '73
	334	Int.	Bodo
TURKEY	141	Int.	Murted
	191	F/B	Balikesir
SPAIN	104	Int.	Torrejon	Sq. No.	F4C

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