Canadair F-86 Sabre

The Canadair Sabre Jet was the mainstay of the RCAF and NATO forces during the early years of the Cold War, helping to counter the air threats from Soviet fighters behind the Iron Curtain



In 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, the Canadian government decided to re-equip the RCAF with the F-86 Sabre Jet. Canadair of Montreal, Quebec was contracted to build an initial batch of 10 aircraft, but with the outbreak of the Korean War, the order was increased to a production batch of 100 aircraft.

The first Canadian Sabre Jet took to the skies two years later, and between 1950 and 1958 a total of 1,815 Sabre Jets were built in Canada.

Six versions of the Sabre were built by Canadair, with the aircraft serving overseas during the Korean War and in Europe during the Cold War where they were stationed in the UK, France and West Germany.

The Sabre proved itself as a fast, reliable and highly manoeuvrable aircraft and was eventually regarded as the "best dogfighter" of its era.