F-86 Sabre was a military airplane used by the United States and its allies during the Korean War (1950-1953) . The F-86 was a fighter jet . F is the U.S. Air Force’s designation for a fighter plane. The F-86 was the main U.S. fighter jet of its era. The aircraft famously fought against Soviet-made MiG-15 jet fighters during the war.
The F-86 was the first jet fighter used by the U.S. Air Force to have a swept wing. The tips of a swept wing angle toward the rear of the aircraft, improving the plane’s handling at high speeds. Nearly all modern jets make use of a swept wing. The F-86 was also notable for the large air inlet in the craft’s nose and its “all-flying” tail design. This design enabled the rear stabilizer to rotate, making the plane easier to maneuver. The F-86 was developed in the late 1940’s. However, it did not enter service until late 1950, shortly after the first MiG-15—also a swept-wing craft—was flown by the North Korean air force. Both fighters outperformed earlier straight-wing jet fighters, and they proved fearsome opponents. Air battles between Sabres and MiG-15’s sometimes involved more than 100 aircraft. Many of these battles took place in an area that became known as “MiG Alley,” between the Yalu River and Pyongyang , the North Korean capital.
Most F-86’s carried one pilot and six heavy machine guns. The fighter jets were also armed with air-to-air rockets and sometimes bombs and drop tanks (auxiliary fuel tanks). In later versions, rapid-fire cannons replaced the machine guns. The F-86 had a maximum speed of nearly 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) per hour. It could reach a maximum altitude of around 49,000 feet (15,000 meters), with a range of about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers). In a dive, the F-86 became the first U.S. fighter to exceed the speed of sound—761 miles (1,225 kilometers) per hour.
Sabres enjoyed great success in air-to-air combat. They were also used in ground attack and reconnaissance (information-gathering) missions. Sabres destroyed more than 800 enemy aircraft—mostly MiG-15’s—during the Korean War. Only 78 Sabres were lost in combat. More than 9,000 F-86’s of various models were built from 1948 to 1956. The last U.S. Air Force F-86 was retired in 1958. However, the plane served in Air National Guard units until 1970 and in foreign air forces until 1993.
