The Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer was a late 1960s company-funded proposal for a new and improved F-104 Starfighter. It was intended for the export market and was in direct competition with the Northrop F-5E Tiger II, Dassault Mirage F1, Northrop YF-17 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom. Lockheed hoped to capitalize on its F-104 production experience through commonality of parts and systems, and minimize expenses by reusing tooling, jigs and existi...
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The Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer was a late 1960s company-funded proposal for a new and improved F-104 Starfighter. It was intended for the export market and was in direct competition with the Northrop F-5E Tiger II, Dassault Mirage F1, Northrop YF-17 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom. Lockheed hoped to capitalize on its F-104 production experience through commonality of parts and systems, and minimize expenses by reusing tooling, jigs and existing factory facilities. Lockheed was also experienced in consortium production and further hoped to continue this arrangement with the CL-1200. It was projected that CL-1200 deliveries could begin in 1972.
Borrowing heavily from the F-104 design the new type featured a new high-mounted, increased span wing and low-mounted, enlarged tailplanes. Both features were incorporated to improve flight handling characteristics and short-field performance. The CL1200-1 was to have used an uprated version of the F-104 engine, the General Electric J79 with...
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