The F-94 was developed to fulfil a specification issued by the USAF in 1948, seeking a new interceptor capable of day and night operations to replace its piston-engined types in light of recent military advances made by the Soviet Union.

The F-94 was derived from the successful Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer; being a relatively simple conversion from an established aircraft led to USAF officials viewing it as a low risk option and opting to procure the type.

Maintaining a high level of parts commonality with the preceding aircraft, the majority of the F-94's external changes were related to the adoption of a larger nose that accommodated multiple guns, radar, and an automatic fire control system.

It had a relatively brief operational life, the replacement process commencing in the mid-1950s in favor of more advanced fighters such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion and North American F-86D Sabre.

On 8 October 1948, the United States Air Force (USAF) issued a new general operating requirement that called for a radar-equipped interceptor to replace the aging Northrop F-61 Black Widow and North American F-82 Twin Mustang.

[1][2] This new interceptor was specifically designed to counter the emergence of new Soviet aircraft such as the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber (reverse engineered from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress).

[1][4] Designated F-94 Starfire, it was redesigned with a lengthened nose area to accommodate the addition of guns, radar, and an automatic fire control system.

[6] To accelerate development, these early test aircraft were converted from existing T-33s; they maintained roughly 75% commonality in terms of components with those used in the earlier F-80 and T-33As.

[5][9] The fire control system selected for the F-94 was the Hughes E-1; this unit incorporated an AN/APG-33 radar (derived from the AN/APG-3, which directed the Convair B-36 Peacemaker's tail guns) and a Sperry A-1C computing gunsight.

The pilot and radar operator commonly found that the cockpit was too narrow for them to be able to quickly enter and exit the aircraft, which was routinely expected during alerts and scrambles.

[12] The pilot was also provided with a more roomy cockpit while the canopy was replaced by a redesigned unit with a bow frame in the center between the two crew members, along with a new Instrument Landing System (ILS).

This improved model quickly replaced the F-94As in service with the active-duty squadrons, after which these older aircraft were temporarily returned to Lockheed to be re-engined and rebuilt to F-94B standards.

[13] These upgraded F-94A/B aircraft were also modified with a twin-gun pod under each wing for two additional 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns each, bringing the total to eight.

[17] At the time, USAF interest in the aircraft was allegedly lukewarm, thus Lockheed opted to fund development themselves, converting two F-94B airframes into YF-94C prototypes for evaluation.

An F-94D model was proposed as a single-seat fighter bomber, being armed with both bombs and rockets under the wings as well as eight nose-mounted machine guns.

The F-82Fs proved to be an excellent day/night all-weather interceptor, with long range, but it lacked any logistics support which resulted in a chronic shortage of parts.

The jet-powered F-94As, however, had shorter legs than the F-82s and relied more on Ground Control Interception Radar (GCI) sites to vector them to intruding aircraft.

[14] Once the 317th was equipped in the Pacific Northwest, ADC then re-equipped its 52d Fighter-All Weather Group at McGuire AFB, New Jersey[24] which also flew F-82Fs and provided air defense of the Northeastern United States.

During 1950 and 1951, ADC sent F-94As to squadrons of the 56th Fighter Group[24] in the upper Midwest to replace its obsolete F-47 Thunderbolts, F-51 Mustangs, as well as F-80 Shooting Star and F-86A Sabre day jet interceptors.

[14] During January 1952, ADC was ordered to deploy the 319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron from the 25th Air Division at Larson AFB, Washington to Japan, and to relieve the 68th FIS at Itazuke.

A detachment of the ADC squadron was sent to Misawa AB to fly air defense missions over Northern Honshu and Hokkaido against any intruding Soviet aircraft from Sakhalin Island or the Vladivostok area.

In June, the first F-94 contacts against enemy jets was made and the interceptor crews believed at the time that the communists were testing radar-warning equipment.

On several occasions just when they were ready to fire on the enemy aircraft, it would start evasive action that indicated the MiGs were equipped with a form of warning radar (as the F-94s were).

[31] In Anchorage, the 57th Fighter Group at Elmendorf AFB began sending its F-80C Shooting Stars back to the Continental United States in batches of four or five as they were replaced by the F-94As.

Extreme cold weather training for Air Force personnel assigned to Ladd AFB was mandatory in the event of an emergency ejection or even just being outside in the winter, losing a glove, and dropping a wrench or tool.

It was responsible for the defense of the northern approaches to North America and also to support transient aircraft of MATS and SAC, all of which came under the collective command and control of the 64th Air Division.

Thule was a staging base at the time for the SAC B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bomber, which would proceed from there in wartime to targets in the Soviet Union using the great circle route over the North Pole.

[14] Keflavik Airport, Iceland, although controlled by Military Air Transport Service (MATS), received F-94Bs as part of the 82d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in April 1953.

[14] Beginning in mid-1954, the F-94A/B models were gradually replaced in the active-duty Air Force's inventory by a combination of the Northrop F-89C/D Scorpion and the North American F-86D Sabre interceptors.

[14][33] The last F-94C Starfires were phased out of ANG service by the 179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at the Duluth Municipal Airport, Minnesota during the summer of 1959 when it converted to the F-89J Scorpion; the last aircraft being sent to AMARC in December 1959.