The F-86A-5, known as the P-86 before June 1948, was one of the most successful early jet aircraft. It featured swept wings which greatly reduced drag and increased the top speed to over 1,000 km/h (625 mph). In addition, the F-86A featured a ranging radar that could calculate the lead required for firing upon an enemy fighter; a big improvement over the Mark 18 optical computing sight that required manual adjustments before firing. Unfortunately, effectiveness was still hampered by the now weak .50 cal machine guns against jet aircraft which were typically almost all metal airframes. Nonetheless, the F-86 proved to be a very capable aircraft in the Korean War even if it was largely outdated by the late 1950s.

Introduced since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to 1.27, the F-86A-5 is a great jet for players entering more advanced jet combat. The Sabre features decent flight characteristics like a fast roll rate and is relatively nimble compared to contemporaries like the MiG-15. The Sabre does have six 12.7 mm machine guns all mounted in the nose which can be dangerous with the tracer belt (full API-T composition). However, players should expect many critical hits with these since they lack the outright stopping power of big cannon rounds. The F-86A-5’s J-47 engine is a also bit underpowered, and it takes time to reach sufficient speeds for combat so players should be wary of getting too slow. Overall, the F-86A-5 is a good plane for players to get used to the much faster speeds of later jets.