- This article is about the fictional class of vehicle. The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a supersonic jet fighter developed in the early
1950s. See also Robert
Calvert.
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to
describe relatively small, maneuverable manned spacecraft designed for military
combat (cf starship). Strictly speaking, the term "starfighter" only applies to
those that can independently perform intersystem travel; "spacefighter" would be a more appropriate title for those that
cannot.
The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of
space travel. The starfuries in the television series Babylon 5 are a notable
exception in at least the attempt to make a more realistic fighter for space combat.
Well-known starfighters include those of the Star Wars media empire:
In Star Trek, the Peregrine class shuttle can also be recognised as a
starfighter. Starfighters are popular as the subjects of flight
simulator-like space combat video games, such as the "Wing Commander" and "X-Wing" series. This connection is made explicitly in the 1984 film The Last Starfighter in which a video game on Earth is used as
a recruiting device for an alien civilization whose starfighters require the same skills as the video game.
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