Accurate accounts of deliveries of Starfighters to Taiwan are hard to come by, but it is known that an initial batch of 24 ex-USAF F-104As and 5 F-104Bs were delivered to Taiwan in 1960-61.
In 1964-69, Taiwan received 46 Lockheed-built F-104Gs, eight TF-104Gs, plus 21 RF-104Gs from Canadair. Another six F-104Ds were received in 1975 from former Air National Guard squadrons In 1983, these Starfighters were by ex-Luftwaffe machines (38 F-104Gs and 27 TF-104Gs), these aircraft being from the batch of Luftwaffe- owned Starfighters retained at Luke AFB for training purposes and operating in USAF insignia and serials. By 1987, the RoCAF had received at least 22 F-104Js and five F-104DJs from Japan, together with 15 F-104Gs and three TF-104Gs from Denmark. However, some of these aircraft were suitable only for scavenging for spare parts.
The high point of the RoCAF's F-104 service came on January 13, 1967, when a pair of Starfighters shot down a couple of People's Liberation Army MiG-19s in an air battle. This was the first F-104 air-to air victory. However, the RoCAF Starfighter service was marred by frequent accidents.
All in all, Taiwan has received at least 166 single-seat Starfighters and about 53 two-seaters, plus possible additional and unknown quantities from Japan. They are known to have operated with the following units
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2nd/499th Tactical Fighter Wing, Hsinchu
- 41st, 42nd and 48th Tactical Fighter Squadrons (1984 to 1993)
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3rd/427th Tactical Fighter Wing, Ching Chuan Kang Air Base
- 7th, 8th, 28th and 35th Tactical Fighter Squadrons (1965 to 1997)
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5th/401st Tactical Combined Wing, Taoyuan AB
- 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (to 1998)
Earlier plans to upgrade RoCAF Starfighters to F-104ASA standard by the installation of FIAR Grifo fire control radar which would give them beyond-visible-range AAM capability were abandoned.
All of the early series F-104As, Bs, and Ds were withdrawn from service by the early 1980s, some of them having been transferred to Pakistan and Jordan. Others were expended as drones or decoys.
By the mid-1990s, the RoCAF's F-104Gs were beginning to show signs of age and were becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. The Starfighters of the 427th TFW were retired and replaced by F-CK-1 Ching-Kuos in 1993. In May 1997, the 499th TFW at Hsinchu AB began to replace its Starfighters with Mirage 2000-5s. The last remaining Starfighter unit, the 12th TRS was relocated from Taoyutan AB to Hsinchu AB. In a ceremony held at Ching Chuang Kang Air Base on May 22, 1998, the last of the 12th TRS's F-104Gs was officially retired from service, bringing the era of Starfighter service with the RoCAF to an end.
Sources:
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The Lockheed F-104G/CF-104, Gerhard Joos, Aircraft in Profile No.
131, Doubleday, 1969.
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The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery Books, 1989.
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Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Steve Pace, Motorbooks International,
1992.
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Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute
Press, 1987.
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Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, John Fricker, Wings of Fame, Vol 2,
Aerospace Publishing Ltd, 1996.
- ROCAF F-104s Retire, Wei-Bin Chang, Air Forces Monthly, August 1998
