As the premier striker craft for the EF navy, it was intended to fly ahead under the cover of warship fire and engage the enemy at short range. Its primary armament consists of twelve anti-warship missiles, and is bolstered by the standard four 25mm machinegun set. While Saberfish pilots have found their missiles easily dodged, the payload delivered is enough to KO a mobile suit if it does hit home.

Despite its high speed, the Saberfish is lacking in maneuverability, an area that mobile suits excell in. Even with crack pilots at the helm, Zeon's Zaku II mobile suits could outmaneuver the high-speed Saberfish and attack them from behind, to which the fighters had no real defense from. Following the development of the Federation's own line of mobile suits, the Saberfish has been slowly phased out of use. However, it is still more commonly seen on the battlegrounds than the GM, a fact that Federal commanders are trying to fix as soon as possible.