North American Aviation designed the T-39D Sabreliner as a mid-sized business jet, named for the resemblance of its wing and tail shape to the F-86 Sabre jet. The aircraft came to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-31) in December 1973 and operated from the Naval Air Warfare Station airfield (NID/KNID) until its retirement in April 2018. During its service life, it was used primarily as a flying testbed for air-to-air and air-to-ground seekers and sensors. Early in its career, around 1973, it gathered data needed to solve an AIM-9L Sidewinder tracking anomaly. It also served as an unscheduled airline carrying civilian and military personnel to critical meetings when commercial travel was limited or too time-consuming.