What program did Lockheed create to improve the reliability of the German F-104s?

When the last German Starfighter was retired in 1991, 292 aircraft had been destroyed in accidents and 116 pilots had died. That is a loss rate of nearly one in three, unmatched by any comparable Western fighter program. Within a few years the aircraft had earned a nickname that stuck: Witwenmacher, the widow-maker. The Starfighter-Krise became a political scandal that brought down defense officials and fueled a national debate over whether the Bundeswehr was fit for purpose.

Lockheed secured more reliable production cycles by developing a program called SURE, Starfighter Utilization Reliability Effort, which sent aerodynamicists, pilots and service representatives to solve problems as they arose. The manufacturer also sent experts to help West German engineers more effectively translate Lockheed's blueprints, technical orders and unfamiliar parts into actual fighters.

Lockheed launched specialized training programs, funded entirely by the company itself, to familiarize inexperienced German pilots with their new aircraft, which drastically reduced the number of in-flight accidents.