After rendering stirling service with the United States Air Force in the frigid skies over Korea, North American's F-86 Sabre and its near relatives, the Canadair CL-13 and the CAC CA-27, went on to serve on every continent and in every clime in the world, other than Antarctica.
Canada ordered the Sabre in 1949 as part of the general force modernization that followed on the nation's decision to join the newly founded NATO alliance. Canadair manufactured 1815 Sabres between 1950 and the end of production in 1958, for the RCAF, USAF, and recipients of grants from the American Military Defense Assistance Program (MDAP). Roughly half of the total went to the Royal Canadian Air Force:
The USAF purchased 60 F.2 models under the designation F-86E-6-Can for its own use. The RAF received 438 of the generally similar, MDAP-funded CL-13 F.4. The Federal German Luftwaffe got 75 CL-13A Sabre F.5s and 225 CL-13B Sabre F.6s, all under MDAP. Columbia took 6 of the latter, and South Africa bought 34. Israel ordered 24 and sent pilots to Canada for training, but the outbreak of the 1956 war and the subsequent arms embargo forced cancellation.
The purchase of 438 Sabre F.4s made the United Kingdom one of the largest users of the North American design, a fact that is now often forgotten. Encounters with North Korean MiG-15 fighters over Korea had shown that the contemporary frontline British fighters—the Meteor and the Vampire—were woefully inadequate. When 77 Sqdn, Royal Australian Air Force, took its brand new Meteor F.8 fighters into action on fighter sweeps and escort missions over the Yalu, they were severely mauled, without claiming any MiGs. The Meteor lacked the speed and high-altitude maneuverability of state-of-the-art fighters. The Hawker Hunter and the Supermarine Swift, swept-wing replacements for the Meteor and Vampire, were in development, but budgetary stringency, government indecision, and engine problems were seriously delaying their service introduction. To meet the MiG threat in the near term, the government had to place hurried orders for the only available alternative, the Canadair-built, MDAP-funded Sabre. Examples served in the UK, with Fighter Command, and, in large numbers, with the RAF in Germany, the latter being distinguished by their PRU-Blue under surfaces.
Finally, as the Northrop F-5 and the Lockheed F-104G became available, Canada, Germany, and England passed their CL-13s to other natons. Greece and Turkey received 107 refurbished Sabre F.2s each. Italy received 180 refurbished F.4s, and Yugoslavia got 121 under the designation F-86E(M). A Swiss arms broker purchased 90 F.6s from Germany, ostensibly for Iran, but delivered them to Pakistan in 1966. After the 1971 war, some of these wet on to form the nucleus of the air force of newly independent Bangladesh. Six of the Yugoslavian F-86E(M) aircraft found their way to Honduras.
Ex-USAF Sabres were also frequently ceded to America's allies in Europe. Many received F-86F fighter-bombers, atype which retained its utility after its time as a first-line nterceptor was over. Among the recipients were Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Norway.
South American air forces were also beneficiaries of USAF largesse. In the immediate, post-war period, the US government discouraged the export of high-performance, jet combat aircraft to Latin America. In the eyes of US policy makers, legitimate security concerns (i.e. fighting "communist" insurgency) could not justify such equipment. So its presence could only encourage undesirable, inter-American rivalries. The war-surplus P-51s, P-47s, and B-25s that the US was willing to supply could defeat insurgents without needlessly threatening neighboring powers. When, however, Latin American nations turned to other countries more willing to supply military jets (notably Canada and the UK), successive American administrations relaxed and, in time, all but abandoned this policy. Argentina, which had previously found itself fiscally unable to proceed with an order for 36 Canadian CL-13Bs, received 28 surplus F-86F fighter-bombers in 1960. The US supplied 15 similar aircraft to Peru in 1955. These served until the Soviet Su-22 replaced them in 1979-80. Venezuela got 22 ex-USAF F-86Fs and later passed 9 of them to Bolivia. Four of the latter were still operational in the late 1980s.
In Asia, Sabres saw service with Taiwan, Pakistan, Thailand, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Taiwan, arguably the earliest major user of the Sabre in Asia, used its aircraft in a long-running series of air battles over the Taiwan Straits and Quemoy island. A Taiwanese F-86F achieved the first aerial victory using an air-to-air guided missile when it destroyed a mainland-Chinese MiG over the straits with an IR-guided, AAM-9 Sidewinder. Philippino F-86Fs saw extensive action in the long campaign against the Moro insurgents, before finally giving way to F-5s and LTV F-8 Crusaders. Japan manufactured the standard, USAF F-86F, while Australia developed its own variant, the most powerful of all the Sabres.
Pakistani CL-13B Sabre 6 and F-86F fighters fought with distinction in both the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistan wars. In 1965, they fought Folland Gnats, Dassault Ouragans and Mystères, and Hunters. One was credited with the destruction of 5 of the latter in a matter of minutes over the PAF airfield at Sargodha. In the 1971 conflict, Sabres served in the fighter-bomber, close-support, and low-level air defense roles, often encountering MiG-21s, HAL Ajeets (modernized Gnats), Hal Maruts, and. of course, Hunters. Sabres formed the entire PAF air strength in West Pakistan and, when that long-suffering territory won its independence in the aftermath of the war, Sabres went on to serve with the new state's air arm.
Australia selected the Sabre late and largely as a result of the unfortunate showing made by its Meteors in Korea. The Sabre was the best fighter extant and the only high-performance aircraft that was immediately available. By 1951, however, when the RAAF had to make its decision, much more advanced fighters were already on the horizon. The Hunter had obvious appeal, but its protracted development and myriad technical problems put it too far in the future. The RAAF thus had to choose between spending its limited resources on a proven type near the end of its development potential or an as-yet ill-defined, state-of-the-art successor type. Since the Meteor had been chosen for many of the same, sound, conservative reasons as now recommended the F-86 and had proved itself obsolete by the time it was delivered, the air staff was reluctant to repeat a mistake that had cost lives in Korea. Yet, the very obsolescence of the Meteor seemed to demand an immediate replacement, which could only be the F-86.
As it happened, both arguments proved too compelling to ignore, and the RAAF settled on an inspired—if expensive—compromise, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporations's CA-27. To ensure that the Australian Sabre would remain competititve until well into the 1960s, the RAAF took the radical step of combining the F-86F airframe with the Hunter's engine, replacing the J-47 and the Orenda 10 with the 7500 lb-st Rolls-Royce Avon RA-7. While the Avon offered 1000 additional lbs of thrust over its nearest rival, the Orenda, it was also a new engine, with tremendous potential for future development (afterburning versions eventually produced 17,600 lb-st).
Installing an Avon in a Sabre airframe was, however, more of a redesign than an engine swap. The Orenda had roughly the same dimensions, weight, and airflow requirements as the J-47. But the Avon needed 25% more airflow and weighed 400 lbs less. CAC had to deepen the nose intake by 3.5" to provide the additional air. To maintain the center of gravity, the designers had to mount the new engine further to the rear, which in turn required a new joint between the detachable tailpipe section and the main structure. By the time this was achieved, the 100 sets of F-86 components ordered for the initial production run were of little use, since over 60% of the airframe design was new.
After making engineering and financial investments of this magnitude, the RAAF felt compelled to seek a greater increase in capability than had originally been anticipated. CAC greatly increased the fuel capacity of the base aircraft and improved the armament. Originally, the air force had specified the then-standard Commonwealth weapons fit, four 20-mm Hispano cannon, as carried by the Meteor. While this was a significant improvement upon the standard Sabre's six .50-cal (12.7-mm) machine guns, it was hardly considered worthwhile, given the changes to the rest of the aircraft. Accordingly, CAC fitted a pair of the new, 30-mm ADEN revolver cannon, the heaviest gun mounted by any Sabre. After evaluating the British Firestreak IR-guided air-to-air missile for later-production CA-27s, the RAAF settled on the lighter, simpler, and generally more capable Sidewinder. Two (later four) pylons were provided for up to 2000 lbs of bombs, 5-inch or 3-inch rockets, and 100- and 166-gallon drop tanks.
A prototype designated CA-26 first flew in August 1953. Production-standard, CA-27s started to appear in July of the following year. The first series of 22 CA-27 Mk.30s had imported Avon 20s and slatted, F-86F wings. The first operational Mk.30 fighters were delivered to 3 Sqdn in 1956. These were followed by 20 Mk.31s, which introduced the USAF "hard" wing, an extended leading edge that replaced the original slats. This made room for still more fuel, increased top speed slightly, and greatly improved high-altitude turning performance, at the expense of low-speed handling and stability. Mk.30s were then progressively brought up to Mk.31 standard. Finally, CAC produced 69 CA-27 Mk.32s, with Avon 26 engines, 4 wing pylons, and the ability to carry Sidewinder missiles. These served with 75 and 76 Sqdn in Australia, with 3 and 77 Sqdn in Malaysia, and with 79 Sqdn in Thailand (formed as part of Australia's SEATO commitment in 1962).
CA-27s went into action with 3 Sqdn in Malaya in the fall of 1958. Operating out of Butterworth, these flew airstrikes against terrorists during the closing phases of the Malayan Emergency, "Operation Fire Dog." Like the AVRO Lincolns, Bristol Brigands, Hornets, and Vampires that preceded them, the Sabres had little success against the tiny guerilla bands, which were all but impossible to locate beneath the heavy, triple-thick jungle canopy of the Malaysian rain forest. Nonetheless, this initial deployment was the start of a long association between the CA-27 and Butterworth. The 3 Sqdn Sabres remained until 1967, serving as a deterrent to Indonesia's probing attacks on Malaysia and freeing RAF units to oppose similar incursions into Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei. A second unit, 77 Sqdn, joined 3 Sqdn in 1967.
When the Mirage IIIO replaced the CA-27s in the early 1970s, the latter were passed on to the Malaysian air force and, ironically, the Angkatan Udara Republik Indonesia. The right-wing coup that toppled Indonesia's dictator, President Sukarno, reduced the country's aggressiveness towards its western-leaning neighbors and cut off its once plentiful supply of Eastern-bloc aircraft. Australia encouraged the new regime's pro-Wesern tilt with the gift of Sabres, which served for a comparatively brief time before being replaced by F-5s and A-4s.
