The U.S. got its first look, last week, at one of the world's fastest jet fighters as the Air Force lifted the security ban on pictures of Lockheed's lightweight F-104 Starfighter. Instead of sharply swept wings like most of the new Century Series jets (TIME, Feb. 20), the F-104, like its first jet ancestor, the Lockheed F-80, has stubby, bumblebee-like wings, jutting straight out from a long, needle-nosed fuselage. With a General Electric J-79 engine, the Starfighter has an estimated top speed close to Mach 2 (1,320 m.p.h. at 30,000 ft.) in level flight.
Lockheed already has the F-IO4 in...