# F-104 STARFIGHTER ZERO LENGTH TAKE OFF FILM " ZELL FOR DEFENSE " 49384

Made during the Cold War, this historic film in German shows the F-104 Starfighter being tested as part of SATS, Short Air Field for Tactical Support or SATS and its counterpart the ZELL program. The zero-length launch system or zero-length take-off system (ZLL, ZLTO, ZEL, ZELL) was a system whereby jet fighters and attack aircraft were intended to be placed on large JATO rockets attached to mobile launch platforms. Most zero length launch experiments took place in the 1950s, during the Cold War. Both SATS and ZELL fell victim to the revised NATO strategy "Flexible Response" and were therefore not pursued beyond the test programs. For more information see: http://www.rolfferch.de/F104G/html/pr... SATS was a test program for take-off and landing on short tracks with the help of catapults and catch hooks, similar to aircraft carriers. Three German F-104Gs were modified accordingly, including a reinforcement of the landing gear and the installation of two catapult hooks. The tests were carried out at the Naval Air Test Facility in Lakehurst, USA. In total, a few hundred take-offs and landings were successfully completed. Indirectly, this later led to the introduction of fishing facilities at federal jet airports. A SATS airfield included the start-up caterpillar and two LM 1500 gas engines (J79 ​​engine gas generators), a runway with landing gear and the usual airfield facilities. This track consisted of aluminum plates that could be laid quickly. In 1962/63, an F-104G use of…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/49384ZellForDefense)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/49384ZellForDefense?play=1)