{"id":31773433,"date":"2026-11-08T11:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/north-american-f-86d-sabre-dog-all-weather-interceptor-mighty-mouse-rockets\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T11:12:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:12:40","slug":"north-american-f-86d-sabre-dog-all-weather-interceptor-mighty-mouse-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/north-american-f-86d-sabre-dog-all-weather-interceptor-mighty-mouse-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"F-86D Sabre Dog: The Rocket Interceptor That Broke Speed Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Somewhere ahead of it, a single American pilot sits in a fighter with no guns at all. He is not looking out of the canopy. He is staring into a radar scope, steering a small dot into the centre of a circle, while a computer decides the exact moment to fire 24 rockets into the dark.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That was the job of the North American F-86D, the Sabre that most people never think of. It wore the famous name of the Korean War dogfighter, but under the skin it was a different aeroplane: a radar-nosed, afterburning, rocket-armed all-weather interceptor that became known as the &ldquo;Sabre Dog&rdquo;.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It also did something no previous US Air Force radar fighter had managed. It put the radar, the fire control and the flying into the hands of one person. And along the way, two standard production F-86D Sabre Dog interceptors took the world absolute speed record.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> North American F-86D Sabre, single-seat all-weather interceptor (originally YF-95)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 22 December 1949<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engine:<\/strong> One General Electric J47-GE-17, 5,425 lbf dry, 7,500 lbf with afterburner<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Radar and fire control:<\/strong> AN\/APG-36 radar, Hughes E-4 fire control system<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Armament:<\/strong> 24 Mk 4 &ldquo;Mighty Mouse&rdquo; 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets in a retractable tray; no guns<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Speed records:<\/strong> About 698.5 mph (Nov 1952) and 715.7 mph (16 July 1953), Salton Sea<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Production:<\/strong> More than 2,500 F-86Ds; 981 later converted to F-86L<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Export cousin:<\/strong> F-86K with four 20 mm cannon, built by North American and Fiat<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Sabre in name only<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The day-fighter <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-86-sabre\/\">F-86 Sabre<\/a> was built to see its enemy in clear daylight and kill it with six .50-calibre machine guns. That was no use against bombers arriving in cloud or darkness. New Soviet jet and turboprop bombers such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/tu-16-badger\/\">Tu-16<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/tu-95-bear\/\">Tu-95<\/a> would also be much faster than the piston bombers of the Second World War, shrinking the time an interceptor had to aim and fire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>North American began work in March 1949 on an all-weather derivative. So much had to change that the Air Force first gave it a new designation, YF-95. The prototype flew on 22 December 1949, and the designation reverted to YF-86D before production began. The family resemblance was largely skin-deep: the F-86D shared only about 25 percent of its parts with the original Sabre.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It had a wider, longer fuselage, a hinged clamshell canopy, enlarged tail surfaces and a black radome for the AN\/APG-36 radar perched above a reshaped intake. Behind the pilot sat a General Electric J47-GE-17 with an afterburner, rated at 5,425 lbf (24.1 kN) dry and 7,500 lbf (33.4 kN) with reheat. The guns were gone entirely.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/f-86d-52-3863-dennis-the-menace-usaf-museum.jpg\" alt=\"Polished F-86D-40 Sabre 52-3863 with Dennis the Menace nose art and 97th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron markings\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">F-86D-40-NA 52-3863 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, in the markings of the 97th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB in 1954. Note the black radome above the intake. US Air Force photo \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">One pilot, one computer<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Before the Sabre Dog, every US Air Force fighter with search radar carried a second crewman to run it. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-94-starfire\/\">F-94 Starfire<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-89-scorpion\/\">F-89 Scorpion<\/a> both had a radar operator in the back seat. The F-86D replaced that person with automation, in the form of the Hughes E-4 fire control system.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Older systems had the pilot fly a pursuit course that ended up behind the bomber, squarely in the arc of its tail guns. The E-4 computed a lead-collision course instead, bringing the fighter in from ahead and to the side. Once the radar locked on, a steering dot appeared on the scope. Keep the dot in the centre of a small circle, and the aircraft was on the right course. An outer &ldquo;time-to-go&rdquo; circle shrank as the firing point approached.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Four seconds before firing, the pilot was prompted to arm the rockets. Then the system fired them automatically at the computed instant. It was a remarkable workload for one person, flying on instruments at night while watching symbols on a scope, and it explains why the early E-3 and E-4 electronics gave so much trouble.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l4_Ce-nYpdk\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Not A Pound For Air To Ground on why the F-86D, the most common American interceptor of the 1950s, is so often forgotten.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;While the aircraft saw service for only a brief time and never entered combat, it represented a leap forward in the evolution of military aircraft.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Christopher Paulos<\/strong> &mdash; Texas Military Forces Museum, on the F-86D preserved at Camp Mabry (2020)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Mighty Mouse<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The weapon at the end of all that computation was the Mk 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket, better known by its service nickname, &ldquo;Mighty Mouse&rdquo;, after the cartoon character. Each rocket was 2.75 inches (70 mm) across, about 1.2 metres long and weighed 8.4 kg, with a warhead of roughly 2.7 kg. Four fins flipped open at launch to stabilise it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The F-86D carried 24 of them in a retractable tray in its belly that dropped down only for the attack, and the pilot could fire them in salvoes of 6, 12 or 24. The theory was simple: one hit could destroy a bomber, so a spread of rockets fired at the right moment should guarantee one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/f-86d-sabre-dog-mighty-mouse-rocket-tray.jpg\" alt=\"The retractable rocket tray of an F-86D Sabre Dog lowered under the fuselage, showing 24 launch tubes for Mighty Mouse rockets\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The retractable belly tray of a preserved F-86D in Butte, Montana, with its 24 launch tubes for 2.75-inch Mighty Mouse rockets. The tray dropped out only for the attack. Photo: Greg Goebel \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The practice was less kind. The rockets dispersed widely after launch, and a 24-round salvo could scatter across an area the size of a football field. In August 1956, two F-89 Scorpions sent after a runaway US Navy drone over California fired 208 of them without bringing it down, an episode now remembered as the Battle of Palmdale. Guided missiles were the obvious answer, and the Mighty Mouse found its real career later as an air-to-ground weapon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The fastest Sabres of all<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>For all its electronic complexity, the Sabre Dog was quick. In November 1952, Captain J. Slade Nash of the Air Force Flight Test Center flew F-86D 51-2945 over a 3-kilometre course beside the Salton Sea in southern California, at around 125 feet (38 m). His average of about 698.5 mph (1,124 km\/h) broke the world absolute speed record that an F-86A had set in 1948 at 670.981 mph.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Nash came within shouting distance of the speed of sound&mdash;about 760 m.p.h. at sea level.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>The Desert Sun<\/strong> &mdash; Palm Springs newspaper reporting the Salton Sea record run, 27 November 1952<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Salton Sea was chosen with care. Its surface lies more than 70 metres below sea level, and the dense, hot air there raises the speed of sound, giving a transonic jet more room before compressibility trouble sets in. On 16 July 1953, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns used the same course to push the record to about 715.7 mph (1,151.8 km\/h) in F-86D 51-6145.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Barns&rsquo; aircraft was a standard production airframe, the first of the Block 35 models, and it flew with a full load of 24 rockets. A combat-ready interceptor, straight off the line, briefly held the title of fastest aeroplane in the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/f-86d-fu-574-rocket-launch-usaf.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of a US Air Force F-86D Sabre, buzz number FU-574, with a 2.75-inch rocket streaking ahead of it\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An early F-86D, buzz number FU-574, with a rocket streaking ahead of it. The Mighty Mouse could be fired in salvoes of 6, 12 or 24. US Air Force photo \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Teething troubles and a long service life<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The record runs hid a difficult start. Problems with the E-3 and E-4 electronics held up deliveries, and it took until 1953 for fully functioning F-86Ds to reach the squadrons of Air Defense Command in numbers. Engine and fuel-system problems led to a fleet-wide grounding late that year and a large modification programme in 1954.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Once the bugs were out, the Sabre Dog became the backbone of American continental air defence in the mid-1950s. More than 2,500 were built. From 1956, 981 were rebuilt as the F-86L, with a redesigned wing and new electronics, and Air National Guard units flew those into the mid-1960s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/38AiTAXFhX0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The National Museum of the US Air Force looks at its F-94C Starfire and F-86D Sabre, two answers to the same all-weather interceptor problem.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>NATO air forces got the F-86K, a simplified export version that swapped the rocket tray for four 20 mm cannon. North American built 120 of them and Fiat assembled 221 more in Italy for the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/italian-air-force\/\">Italian Air Force<\/a>, France, the Netherlands, Norway and West Germany. Surplus F-86Ds went to Denmark, Greece, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Yugoslavia and others. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/japan-air-self-defense-force\/\">Japan Air Self-Defense Force<\/a> took 122 and called the type &ldquo;Gekk&#333;&rdquo;, or Moonlight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LDivw_xoPBM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Period footage of US Air Force F-86D Sabre interceptors, from the Aviation videos archives channel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The ancestor of the automated interceptor<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The F-86D never fought the war it was built for, and its rockets were a dead end. But the idea at its heart outlived it. A single pilot, guided by radar and a fire-control computer that chose the moment to shoot, became the template for the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-102-delta-dagger\/\">F-102 Delta Dagger<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-106-delta-dart\/\">F-106 Delta Dart<\/a> that replaced it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The original Sabre is remembered for what it did in MiG Alley. Its radar-nosed cousin deserves to be remembered for something quieter: it was the moment the fighter pilot first handed the trigger to a computer, and kept the title of fastest man alive while doing it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (North American F-86D Sabre; North American F-86 Sabre; Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket; Battle of Palmdale), Texas Military Forces Museum, This Day in Aviation, Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, McChord Air Museum, Pima Air &amp; Space Museum<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the F-86D Sabre Dog?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The North American F-86D Sabre, nicknamed the Sabre Dog, was a single-seat all-weather interceptor developed from the F-86 day fighter. It had an AN\/APG-36 radar in a nose radome, an afterburning J47 engine and 24 Mighty Mouse rockets instead of guns. It shared only about 25 percent of its parts with the original Sabre.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the F-86D have no guns?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The F-86D was designed to destroy bombers, and its designers considered a salvo of unguided 2.75-inch Mighty Mouse rockets more effective than machine-gun fire. The Sabre Dog carried 24 rockets in a retractable belly tray and could fire them in salvoes of 6, 12 or 24. The export F-86K reverted to four 20 mm cannon.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How did the Hughes E-4 fire control system work in the F-86D?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Hughes E-4 let one pilot do the work of a pilot and radar operator. It computed a lead-collision course to the target, showed steering cues on the radar scope, prompted the pilot to arm the rockets four seconds before firing and then fired them automatically at the calculated moment.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What speed records did the F-86D set?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">In November 1952, Captain J. Slade Nash flew an F-86D to about 698.5 mph over a 3-kilometre course at the Salton Sea, a world absolute speed record. On 16 July 1953, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns raised it to about 715.7 mph in a standard production F-86D carrying its full load of 24 rockets.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many F-86D Sabres were built?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">More than 2,500 F-86D Sabres were built for the US Air Force. From 1956, 981 of them were converted to the improved F-86L with a redesigned wing and new electronics. A related export version, the F-86K, was built by North American and assembled under licence by Fiat in Italy for NATO air forces.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which countries flew the F-86D, F-86K and F-86L?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Besides the United States, F-86D, F-86K and F-86L Sabres served with Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. Japan alone received 122 F-86Ds and nicknamed the type Gekko, or Moonlight.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the F-86D Sabre Dog?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The North American F-86D Sabre, nicknamed the Sabre Dog, was a single-seat all-weather interceptor developed from the F-86 day fighter. It had an AN\/APG-36 radar in a nose radome, an afterburning J47 engine and 24 Mighty Mouse rockets instead of guns. It shared only about 25 percent of its parts with the original Sabre.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the F-86D have no guns?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The F-86D was designed to destroy bombers, and its designers considered a salvo of unguided 2.75-inch Mighty Mouse rockets more effective than machine-gun fire. The Sabre Dog carried 24 rockets in a retractable belly tray and could fire them in salvoes of 6, 12 or 24. The export F-86K reverted to four 20 mm cannon.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Hughes E-4 fire control system work in the F-86D?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Hughes E-4 let one pilot do the work of a pilot and radar operator. It computed a lead-collision course to the target, showed steering cues on the radar scope, prompted the pilot to arm the rockets four seconds before firing and then fired them automatically at the calculated moment.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What speed records did the F-86D set?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"In November 1952, Captain J. Slade Nash flew an F-86D to about 698.5 mph over a 3-kilometre course at the Salton Sea, a world absolute speed record. On 16 July 1953, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns raised it to about 715.7 mph in a standard production F-86D carrying its full load of 24 rockets.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many F-86D Sabres were built?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"More than 2,500 F-86D Sabres were built for the US Air Force. From 1956, 981 of them were converted to the improved F-86L with a redesigned wing and new electronics. 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Japan alone received 122 F-86Ds and nicknamed the type Gekko, or Moonlight.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-f-94-starfire-all-weather-interceptor-korea\/\">Lockheed F-94 Starfire: America's First Afterburner Jet<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/convair-f-106-delta-dart-ultimate-interceptor-sage-genie\/\">F-106 Delta Dart: The USAF's Ultimate Interceptor<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/north-american-yf-93-penetration-fighter\/\">North American YF-93: The Sabre's Forgotten Long-Range Cousin<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/korean-war-jet-aces-joseph-mcconnell-james-jabara-f-86-mig-alley\/\">Korean War Jet Aces: Joseph McConnell, James Jabara and MiG Alley<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The F-86D Sabre Dog was a radar-nosed, gunless, rocket-armed interceptor flown by one pilot and a Hughes computer, and two production examples set world speed records.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":31773317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31773433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>F-86D Sabre Dog: The Rocket Interceptor | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"F-86D Sabre Dog: the gunless, radar-guided Sabre that carried 24 Mighty 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