F104: Same period, Lockheed was repairing US, German and Japanese Starfighters pretty much full time, IIRC still building new ones as well...
After seeing them with the aluminum skin removed from cockpit area I could not figure out how they could convince anyone to plant his butt atop a boxed beam with a mortar attached, then wrap tinfoil around himself and turn the key to "start".
Starfighter was designed to be a clear-sky, short range, interceptor in a WW2/Korea mold. There were some pretty scary/hilarious films of US attempts at '104 interdiction and USAF was touting it in jungle cammo as late as 1969.
Germany didn't start off too very well either, I think the secret came in system upgrades, better suited ordnance, lack of options, and a lingering Germanic will to outdo the other guy (apparently just as misdirected today as it was in 1930/40s).
Shouldn't take much effort to realize that the more you ask of a system, the more failures will occur, the more complex you design a system, the more failures will occur, and what was cutting edge "then" will be a joke &/or a nightmare "now"...as witness the B-1.
Yesterday's challenges morph into today's ultra expensive boondoggles and, unless 3D printing grows up real fast, it will only get worse.
In my opinion, it'd be better economics to mothball tooling & physical plant (NOT junk one & repurpose the other), pre contract for many replacement components, and even build spare AC, so long as anything remains in service...and stop bemoaning "getting parts from a junk yard", opposed to retooling to build new parts, Arizona's Bone Yard has done it's job quite well over the years.
The F104 didn’t have any lift. One engine hiccup at low altitude and it’s a dirt nap.
F104: Same period, Lockheed was repairing ... Starfighters pretty much full time, IIRC still building new ones as well...
When Kelly Johnson & the Skunk Works were tasked with building a high flying reconnaissance aircraft they chose the F-104 fuselage as a starting point. In better than record time and an Acme Wing Stretcher they produced the U-2.
As some have said, the rest is history. Or at least that’s the story I read...