Introduced in 1951, the design of the F-86 "Sabre Dog" was derived from the infamous F-86 Sabre day fighter. The "Sabre Dog" was developed as specifically an all-weather interceptor, featuring a distinctive radome atop the air intake on the nose, and a larger fuselage to contain the larger and more powerful after-burning engine the two aircraft are very similar in overall appearance. Deceptively, the Sabre Dog variants only shared roughly 25% parts compatibility others.

Being designed as an interceptor, and in the days before effective missiles, the vast majority of Sabre Dogs omitted an armament of guns in favor of mounting 24 unguided "Mighty Mouse" rockets in a rocket tray that would pop out from under the fuselage. The K and L variants would mount 4 20mm canons instead of the rockets.

This design proved to only be a short-term stopgap, and was soon relegated to service with the Air National Guard, where they served until 1965. The last Sabre Dogs were retired in 1974 by the Yugoslav Air Force.