#f 100c

Two F-100 Super Sabres gaining altitude. They belong to the USAF.

F-100D Fires unguided rockets at ground targets in Southern Vietnam for CAS.

F-100 of the 188 TFS of the New Mexico ANG somewhere over South Vietnam in 1969.

F-100C Super Sabre

North American F-100 Super Sabre

The North American F-100 Super Sabre was one of the most important yet often overlooked (not by people like you, though) aircraft of the Vietnam War. Nicknamed the “Hun”, it was the first operational fighter capable of supersonic flight in level flight, but in Vietnam, it earned its reputation not as an interceptor, but as a tireless fighter-bomber and close air support aircraft. Between 1964 and 1971, F-100s flew an astonishing 360,283 combat sorties, more than any other USAF fighter in the war and more combat missions than all 15,000-plus P-51 Mustangs flew during the Second World War.

The F-100 was the backbone of tactical air support during the early years of the conflict. It escorted strike aircraft, attacked ground targets, performed armed reconnaissance, and protected troops under fire. At its peak, around 490 F-100s were deployed in Southeast Asia.

F-100 Super Sabre

F-100D RTB

Left: Pilot Leslie R. Leavoy in flight with other jets in the background above Vietnam in 1966. Right: Army nurse 2nd Lieutenant Roberta “Bertie” Steele in South Vietnam, on February 9, 1966.