The Lockheed CL-1200 Lancer was a late 1960s company-funded proposal for a fighter aircraft based on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, conceived and marketed mainly for non-US military services as an export product, where it would have competed with combat-proven designs like the Dassault Mirage III, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, and the Northrop F-5. Conceived under the leadership of the legendary Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, the design incorporated significant modifications to the F-104's airframe, including a 53% larger shoulder-mounted wing for enhanced lift and manoeuvrability, an extended fuselage, and repositioned tailplanes for better stability. Lockheed sought to capitalise on its F-104 production experience and commonality of parts, minimising expenses by reusing existing tooling, jigs, and facilities. The CL-1200 competed unsuccessfully against proposed fourth-generation designs under the US government's Lightweight Fighter programme, which would eventually result in the General Dynamics F-16 and Northrop F-17. The USAF had planned to buy at least one experimental Lancer under the designation X-27 for Mach 2.6 testing, but the project received almost no Congressional or Air Force support, and no flight-capable aircraft were ever built — only a full-scale mockup was completed before the programme was terminated. The CL-1200 is a tantalising "what if" of Cold War aviation — a sleek, capable design from the Skunk Works that the world simply chose not to build.