1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis North American F-86 Sabre

a taiwanese f-86f on display

the republic of china air force of taiwan recipient of surplus usaf sabres. december 1954 june 1956, roc air force received 160 ex-usaf f-86f-1-na through f-86f-30-na fighters. june 1958, nationalist chinese had built impressive fighter force, 320 f-86fs , 7 rf-86fs having been delivered.

sabres , migs shortly battle each other in skies of asia once again in second taiwan strait crisis. in august 1958, chinese communists of people s republic of china attempted force nationalists off of islands of quemoy , matsu shelling , blockade. nationalist f-86fs flying cap on islands found confronted communist mig-15s , mig-17s, , there numerous dogfights.

during these battles, nationalist sabres introduced new element aerial warfare. under secret effort designated operation black magic, u.s. navy had provided roc aim-9 sidewinder, first infrared-homing air-to-air missile, entering service united states. small team vmf-323, marine fj-4 fury squadron later assistance china lake , north american aviation, modified 20 of f-86 sabres carry pair of sidewinders on underwing launch rails , instructed roc pilots in use flying profiles usaf f-100s simulating mig-17. migs enjoyed altitude advantage on sabres, had in korea, , communist chinese migs routinely cruised on nationalist sabres, engaging when had favorable position. sidewinder took away advantage , proved devastatingly effective against migs.