Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer

The Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer was a late 1960s company-funded proposal for a fighter based on the F-104 Starfighter, conceived mainly as an export product for non-US air forces in competition with the Dassault Mirage III, the F-4 Phantom II, the MiG-21 and the Northrop F-5E. Skunk Works under Kelly Johnson reused F-104 tooling and experience, adding a 30 inch fuselage plug for 46 percent more internal fuel, a high-mounted wing of 53 percent more area and enlarged split tailplanes. The CL-1200-1 was to use an uprated General Electric J79 turbojet, and the CL-1200-2 a Pratt and Whitney TF30 turbofan. The Lancer lost the International Fighter Aircraft competition to the Northrop F-5, named the winner in November 1970; an X-27 research derivative never went beyond a mock-up, and the CL-1200-2 entry for the Lightweight Fighter competition lost to the General Dynamics YF-16 and Northrop YF-17. No aircraft was completed.