In 1949, Canada wanted a new fighter to supplement its growing air force. The F-86 Sabre was a good option, but the Canadian government didn't want to have another American aircraft in service. As a compromise, Canada received a license to build their own Sabres and thus birthed the Canadair Sabre. At first, they were essentially the same as the US F-86A. As development and production continued, Canadair Sabres were growing different and even had their own engine installed, the Avro Orenda jet engine. The Mk5 was powered by the Orenda 10, fitted with a new wing, and other aerodynamic changes. It was close to the US F-86F-30 in terms of performance. During this time, the German Luftwaffe was revived and also looked to purchase modern aircraft. Germany placed an order for over 200 Mk6 Sabres, but as a stop-gap measure, 75 ex-RCAF Mk5 Sabres were also supplied. Many of the Mk5 Sabres were scrapped in 1962.

The CL-13A Mk 5 (Germany) was introduced in Update 1.39. The main difference between the CL-13 and the American-built Sabres was the engine. The CL-13A was powered by the Avro Canada Orenda 10 engine, which produced around 2,800 kgf. For comparison, the F-86F-40 is powered by the General Electric J47-GE-27 engine, which only produced around 2,600 kgf. This provided an 8% increase in thrust and gave it substantially better performance in terms of acceleration, climb rate, and more. Other than that, the CL-13A Mk 5 (Germany) still retained the six nose-mounted 12.7 mm M3 machine guns. It also retains the same suspended armament options of HVAR rockets, 750 lb and 1,000 lb bombs, as the F-86F-30.