The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept wing fighter that could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras. Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the '50s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces until the last active operational examples were retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994.

Maiden flight: 01 Oct 1947 Length: 37.08 ft Wingspan: 37.07 ft Passengers: 1 Introduced: 1949 Retired: 1980

Guns: 6 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns (1,602 rounds in total)
Rockets: variety of rocket launchers; e.g: 2 Matra rocket pods with 18 SNEB 68 mm rockets per pod
Missiles: 2 AIM-9 Sidewinders
Bombs: 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints, bombs are usually mounted on outer two pylons as the inner pairs are wet-plumbed pylons for 2 200 US gallons (760 L) drop tanks to give the Sabre a useful range. A wide variety of bombs can be carried (max standard loadout being 2 1,000 lb bombs plus 2 drop tanks), napalm bomb canisters and can include a tactical nuclear weapon.

Role: Fighter aircraft
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 1 October 1947
Introduction: 1949, with USAF
Retired: 1994, Bolivia
Primary users: United States Air Force
                      Japan Air Self-Defense Force
                      Spanish Air Force
                      Republic of Korea Air Force
Number built: 9,860
Unit cost: US$219,457 (F-86E)
Developed from: North American FJ-1 Fury
Variants:
CAC Sabre
Canadair Sabre
North American F-86D Sabre
North American FJ-2/-3 Fury
Developed into
North American FJ-4 Fury
North American YF-93
North American F-100 Super Sabre

The F-86 Sabre was originally built by the North American company as the successor of the famous P-51 Mustang.
The prototype XP-86 was powered by a GE J-35 and featured a swept wing with slats, inspired by the Messerschmitt Me 262. Its first flight occured the 1st October 1947.

The aircraft broke the sound barrier in a shallow dive barely six months after Chuck Yeager's historical flight. The F-86A entered service during 1949 and was the only US aircraft capable of efficiently engaging the MiG 15 when the Korean war broke out. Armed with six 12.7 mm Colt-Browning machine guns, it was a dangerous adversary for the little Russian fighter, even though it had poorer performances overall.

Later in the course of the war, the model A was backed up and partially replaced by the F-86E which had one-piece horizontal tailplanes and other minor modifications which offered better handling near Mach 1. The F-86 As and Es were characterized by a slatted wing which created vibration problems under heavy G-load manoeuvres. To overcome this phenomenon, a new hard wing called "6-3 wing" (with a broader chord and no slats) was introduced on the model F production lines and as retrofit kits for the earlier variants. The F-86F reached operational units in 1952 and was powered by a J-47-GE-27 (model F-30) that, in conjunction with the new wing, gave it a better top speed, climb rate and operational ceiling.

The Sabre's kill ratio of 1:8 (or 1:10 according to the sources) was largely due to the quality and training of the pilots who flew it. Most of them were WWII veterans and had an invaluable combat experience which left little chance to their relatively inexperienced Korean and Chinese opponents.

The Sabre also equipped the South African Air Force during the Korean conflict, as well as a number of other air forces after the war. Other variants were developped (F-86D, H, K...) and Canadair, CAC, Fiat and Mitsubishi built numbers of this formidable aircraft. The total production number reached 8683.