The Starfighter was originally designed for the US Air Force as a pure high speed fighter interceptor. First flight was on 4th march 1954 at Edwards AFB. By that time most European NATO Countries were looking for a new standard fighter/fighterbomber to form the backbone of their Air Forces. Early designs of the model could not really satisfy the European requirements, which resulted in the modified F-104G version. The 'G' was conceived as low-level capable, high-speed fighterbomber with speeds of up to Mach 2.5.