Although all were interesting, Lockheed had what proved to be an insurmountable lead, and was granted a development contract in March 1953 for two prototypes; these were given the designation "XF-104".
Selv om de alle var interessante, førte Lockheed stort, og fik i marts 1953 tildelt en udviklingskontrakt på to prototyper, som fik tildelt navnet "XF-104".