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    Soviet Air-to-Air missiles

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    Post  lulldapull Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:16 pm

    Hey guys this should be an interesting topic as there has been a lot of negative publicity about the RSU-2S, Bisnovat K-5/ K-8, R-23 and the R-40.

    I am starting this topic with a very nice article about the performance of down graded Mig-23MS/ MF and the ML Floggers and their R-23 complement.

    Notice in the article when the Mig-23ML's were delivered the Syrians shot down 3 F-15A's and more F-16A's, and suffered no losses!

    These clashes over the Bekaa Valley also show that the ML/ MLD was a powerful warplane and the first actual recorded use of the IRST/ FLIR in combat.

    I plan on posting later for the R-27, R-33 and the R-40.

    Have a read:

    http://backfiretu-22m.tripod.com/id11.html
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    Post  Stealthflanker Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:45 am

    i have read the article.. pretty nice indeed..

    So Where are the others you promised mate ? ..i'm waiting

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    Post  nightcrawler Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:25 am

    @Garry

    When you gave me the example of MiG-21 as NOT being a large plane you are right; & that is why (its smaller size) that makes it a good potent & LO fighter in those dog-fighting days. See this interview


    However, with the advent of AAM & intelligent seekers/homers it can be easily observed that Russian school of thought stressed upon the payload capacity & the big nose mounted radars to discover their enemy. In contrast the US school of thought (& may be because their AAMs weren't at par with the Russian equivalents) stressed upon evading the radar & sneak up to the enemy instead of locating it from BVR
    Also I must mention that RAM coating effect on RCS isn't that profound as you might be thinking. Coating J-10s, F-15/18 with lots of RAM can't make them LO as near to that of F-117 or even F-35...or had it been that right drastic aero changes (like wetted wing, internal bays) would not have been incorporated in silent F-15
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    Post  Kyo Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:42 pm

    The development of hypersonic missiles in Russia and the US stands at the same level
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    Post  nastle77 Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:50 pm

    The Mig-31 in  soviet times carried the earlier models of the R-33 ( i.e before 1990)

    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    2-Can it be used against anti-ship missiles like Harpoon ?

    3-Can 4 of them be launched against separate targets at the same time ?

    4-Was it tested against fighter sized targets ?

    If anybody has details of the tests that would be great
    Thanks
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    Post  nastle77 Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:58 pm

    ^ thanks cucumber Khan


    In fact it is the poor performance of missiles at low altitudes that led to the Soviet and Russian practise of fitting IR seekers to BVR missiles on their fighters.
    From a high altitude high speed launch an R-27E model AAM can hit a target that is 80kms away at the time of launch. At low altitude that figure is more like 20kms... which sounds bad till you realise that for a Sidewinder class missile can barely reach a quarter of that at low altitude.
    Of course the other reason was that BVR IR guided weapons complimented radar homing weapons of all types. A closing target can be fired upon from long range with a radar homing missile but a receding target is hard to get a lock on and so lock on range for a radar homing missile is much shorter. For an IR guided weapon a receding target is showing its engine exhausts and it is the ideal lock on angle for an IR missile... the only problem is that small IR guided missiles lack the legs to chase down a target heading away from you so BVR IR missiles are ideal.

    Didn't the soviets also have the IR options for the AA-7 Apex and AA-7 acrid as well ?
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    Post  Berkut Sat Aug 01, 2015 9:52 pm

    nastle77 wrote:The Mig-31 in  soviet times carried the earlier models of the R-33 ( i.e before 1990)

    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    2-Can it be used against anti-ship missiles like Harpoon ?

    3-Can 4 of them be launched against separate targets at the same time ?

    4-Was it tested against fighter sized targets ?

    If anybody has details of the tests that would be great
    Thanks

    What do you mean by "earlier" models of R-33? The R-33 is used today is basically the same that was used in the 80's. In fact i am not sure if new R-33's has been produced since early 90's, maybe not counting R-33S... So your questions apply to today too.

    1 - Yes. In fact they test use it for that purpose about yearly for the last few years. They last did it in may.

    2 - No. (<-original answer but i misread the question, so my new answer is "I don't know, but possible")

    3 - I can't remember for sure with vanilla MiG-31's, but yes, i believe this could be done even with them. With BM's, certainly.

    4 - Yes.


    Last edited by Berkut on Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Post  nastle77 Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:11 am

    Berkut wrote:
    nastle77 wrote:The Mig-31 in  soviet times carried the earlier models of the R-33 ( i.e before 1990)

    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    2-Can it be used against anti-ship missiles like Harpoon ?

    3-Can 4 of them be launched against separate targets at the same time ?

    4-Was it tested against fighter sized targets ?

    If anybody has details of the tests that would be great
    Thanks

    What do you mean by "earlier" models of R-33? The R-33 is used today is basically the same that was used in the 80's. In fact i am not sure if new R-33's has been produced since early 90's, maybe not counting R-33S... So your questions apply to today too.

    1 - Yes. In fact they test use it for that purpose about yearly for the last few years. They last did it in may.

    2 - No.

    3 - I can't remember for sure with vanilla MiG-31's, but yes, i believe this could be done even with them. With BM's, certainly.

    4 - Yes.
    thanks
    is there a way to get some articles on those tests ?
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    Post  GarryB Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:35 am

    Pretty much all in service Soviet AAMs... AA-2, AA-3, AA-6, AA-7, and AA-10 has IR and SARH versions... later models even had a passive radar homing to lock onto the nose radar of aircraft guiding SARH missiles.

    The AA-8, AA-9, and AA-11 did not have both options... AA-8 and AA-11 were IR only and the AA-9 was SARH only.

    AA-12 and AA-13 also seem to be only ARH (The inservice ones seen so far anyway).
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    Post  GarryB Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:36 pm

    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    It would have been rather effective against cruise missiles... they pretty much fly straight and level most of the time and do not defend themselves.

    Performance against an enemy bomber would be less impressive.

    2-Can it be used against anti-ship missiles like Harpoon ?

    It would not matter what sort of missile it was I presume... a Harpoon cruising to its target area would be very similar to a strategic nuclear cruise missile...

    3-Can 4 of them be launched against separate targets at the same time ?

    Yes, and over a much more widely separated area than the F-14/Phoenix could manage due to the electronically scanned PESA radar.

    4-Was it tested against fighter sized targets ?

    Its primary role was against cruise missiles and large aircraft like bombers or AWACS aircraft. It would not be ideal against a fighter aircraft.

    If anybody has details of the tests that would be great

    I seem to remember a test where a MiG-31 was flying at 6,000m and engaged a target 20km away that was flying at 20m altitude int he late 1980s.

    Nowdays I suspect they will be transfering to R-37M missiles which can engage 8g targets so would be much better able to engage enemy fighter aircraft as well as missiles and bombers/AWACs/JSTARS/tanker aricraft.
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    Post  Giulio Mon Aug 03, 2015 2:38 am

    nastle77 wrote:The Mig-31 in  soviet times carried the earlier models of the R-33 ( i.e before 1990)

    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    Thanks

    Against subsonic "conventional" cruise missile you can use also infrared missiles, as already written a cruise missile does not defend itself, except with the low flight with terrain following. The problem are above all enemy bombers, their stealthiness and their ecm and eccm. The ecm could make invisible a bomber almost as much as the stealth. But above all if you hit the enemy bombers at a distance greater than the range of their missiles, you don't need to chase enemy cruise missiles. E.g. if a cruise missile has a range of 500 miles, you must hit the bombers before they arriving whitin 500 miles from their target. I think that an r-33 missile for an enemy cruise missile is a waste. If you hit a bomber you can hit up to 20 cruise missiles at once. On the sea I think it is different because the cruise missiles like the as-4 are high supersonic.
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    Post  GarryB Mon Aug 03, 2015 2:22 pm

    I think that an r-33 missile for an enemy cruise missile is a waste. If you hit a bomber you can hit up to 20 cruise missiles at once. On the sea I think it is different because the cruise missiles like the as-4 are high supersonic.

    Waste is the wrong word... firing an R-33 missile at an enemy cruise missile will stop that nuclear warhead from destroying a city or base... it would be well worth the effort.

    It would not be an efficient way to deal with a large scale attack, but it would be worth it if it came down to it... remember the US does not have any supersonic bombers coming over the north pole, so the MiGs might have the chance to fly out and intercept and then return to a nearby base and attack again...

    On the sea I think it is different because the cruise missiles like the as-4 are high supersonic.

    Ex Soviet anti ship missiles would be a difficult target because of their speed, but most western anti ship missiles are subsonic.
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    Post  nastle77 Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:00 am

    GarryB wrote:Pretty much all in service Soviet AAMs... AA-2, AA-3, AA-6, AA-7, and AA-10 has IR and SARH versions... later models even had a passive radar homing to lock onto the nose radar of aircraft guiding SARH missiles.

    The AA-8, AA-9, and AA-11 did not have both options... AA-8 and AA-11 were IR only and the AA-9 was SARH only.

    AA-12 and AA-13 also seem to be only ARH (The inservice ones seen so far anyway).

    How effective was the R-60 AA-8 as an IR weapon ? DId it have an all aspect capability ?
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    Post  nastle77 Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:35 am

    GarryB wrote:
    1-How effective was it against cruise missiles ? was it ever tested against them ?

    It would have been rather effective against cruise missiles... they pretty much fly straight and level most of the time and do not defend themselves.

    Performance against an enemy bomber would be less impressive.

    2-Can it be used against anti-ship missiles like Harpoon ?

    It would not matter what sort of missile it was I presume... a Harpoon cruising to its target area would be very similar to a strategic nuclear cruise missile...

    3-Can 4 of them be launched against separate targets at the same time ?

    Yes, and over a much more widely separated area than the F-14/Phoenix could manage due to the electronically scanned PESA radar.

    4-Was it tested against fighter sized targets ?

    Its primary role was against cruise missiles and large aircraft like bombers or AWACS aircraft. It would not be ideal against a fighter aircraft.

    If anybody has details of the tests that would be great

    I seem to remember a test where a MiG-31 was flying at 6,000m and engaged a target 20km away that was flying at 20m altitude int he late 1980s.

    Nowdays I suspect they will be transfering to R-37M missiles which can engage 8g targets so would be much better able to engage enemy fighter aircraft as well as missiles and bombers/AWACs/JSTARS/tanker aricraft.

    Thank you !
    If a fighter sized target is laden with weapons and cannot maneuver then I guess it might be easier, and if it jettison its weapons to take evasive action then I guess it serves the purpose ?
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    Post  GarryB Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:06 am

    Like all missiles it evolved over time and its performance improved.

    It is my understanding that the R-60M had all aspect homing, earlier versions did not.

    It was a good missile but not in the same class as the much larger Sidewinder which had twice the weight...

    It was carried by a wide range of aircraft as a self defence dogfight missile and in that role it was certainly a very good missile.

    the larger heavier R-73 was a vastly more capable system with its high off boresight seeker and link to its helmet mounted cueing system.

    Very simply the difference in combat would be that the pilot with R-60M would turn his entire aircraft towards the target and place the target in the centre of his HUD like a gun... and press a button to get a lock. Once lock was acquired the missile was launched and the aircraft was then free to manouver again. While trying to get a lock you would need to manouver the aircraft to follow the target and keep it within about 20 degrees of the nose.

    In comparison the R-73 can be locked by radar or IRST or helmet sight... the missile is powered up and the blinking crosshair in the monocle in front of the pilots eye is simply placed on the target by the pilot looking at the enemy aircraft.... the missiles seeker will turn to the target and when it gets a lock the reticle crosshair will stop flashing and the pilot can fire the missile and then carry on doing what they were doing...

    The R-60 remained in service on some aircraft like the Su-24 and Su-25 as a self defence weapon because of its small size and light weight, while aircraft like the very early MiG-29s that carried the r-60 had them replaced by the R-73 when production was large scale enough to provide enough for all the in service units.

    Eventually the R-73 has replaced the R-60 in most applications because it is rather more capable.
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    Post  GarryB Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:31 am

    Called a mission kill, where the enemy aircraft is not shot down but has to dump its load to survive and can't continue the mission.

    Also unaware targets are vulnerable too.
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    Post  nastle77 Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:20 pm

    I have read that the main Mig-23 tactics against other fighters was mainly "hit and run" and to avoid prolonged dogfights
    But then I see the Mig-23P, ML, MLA and MLD had the R-60 which was a ultraclose range weapon designed to counter maneuverable fighters ,from a practical standpoint when was the Mig-23 expected to use this weapon ? WHat is the benefit of having 4 of these weapons with a very short range ?
    since it was outranged by the sidewinder the Wests most common AAM
    Wouldn't it be better to equip the Mig-23 with 4 x R-24 missiles as they would give them longer spear to deal with the sidewinder armed opponents esp when the IR version of this version was essentially a fire and forget weapon
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    Post  George1 Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:44 pm

    nastle77 wrote:I have read that the main Mig-23 tactics against other fighters was mainly "hit and run" and to avoid prolonged dogfights
    But then I see the Mig-23P, ML, MLA  and MLD had the R-60 which was a ultraclose range weapon designed to counter maneuverable fighters ,from a practical standpoint when was the Mig-23 expected to use this weapon ? WHat is the benefit of having 4 of these weapons with a very short range ?
    since it was outranged by the sidewinder the Wests most common AAM
    Wouldn't it be better to equip the Mig-23 with 4 x R-24 missiles as they would give them longer spear to deal with the sidewinder armed opponents esp when the IR version of this version was essentially a fire and forget weapon

    RS-24 in MiG-23 were used from Syrian Air Force against Israel's F-16s during 1982 Lebanon War, but claims on its success varies.
    Many R-23 kills are also reported in the war between Iran and Iraq from Iraqi MiG-23s vs F-14, F-4 and F-5Es
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    Post  Cucumber Khan Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:19 pm

    George1 wrote:
    nastle77 wrote:I have read that the main Mig-23 tactics against other fighters was mainly "hit and run" and to avoid prolonged dogfights
    But then I see the Mig-23P, ML, MLA  and MLD had the R-60 which was a ultraclose range weapon designed to counter maneuverable fighters ,from a practical standpoint when was the Mig-23 expected to use this weapon ? WHat is the benefit of having 4 of these weapons with a very short range ?
    since it was outranged by the sidewinder the Wests most common AAM
    Wouldn't it be better to equip the Mig-23 with 4 x R-24 missiles as they would give them longer spear to deal with the sidewinder armed opponents esp when the IR version of this version was essentially a fire and forget weapon

    RS-24 in MiG-23 were used from Syrian Air Force against Israel's F-16s during 1982 Lebanon War, but claims on its success varies.
    Many R-23 kills are also reported in the war between Iran and Iraq from Iraqi MiG-23s vs F-14, F-4 and F-5Es

    Syria in 1982 had no R-24, only R-23 for their MiG-23MFs. Don't think any R-23 kills in 1982 have been verified. Iraq used both the R-23 and R-24 (and scored kills with both, but mostly with the R-24). Interestingly enough, the first F-14 kill by a MiG-23ML (in 1984) was scored with an R-60.
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    Post  Giulio Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:20 am

    I think the only way to shoot down an F-14 with a Mig-23 is the R-60: to play with a Tomcat on the long range distance it may not be a very good idea ....
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    Post  George1 Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:30 am

    Giulio wrote:I think the only way to shoot down an F-14 with a Mig-23 is the R-60: to play with a Tomcat on the long range distance it may not be a very good idea ....

    F-14 had more powerful radar, i think MiG-23 would have been shot down before it could be in firing range for its R-60
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    Post  Giulio Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:35 am

    Exactly.
    But if you can get close to, the powerful radar is useless.
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    Post  Giulio Thu Oct 01, 2015 1:25 pm

    nastle77 wrote:I have read that the main Mig-23 tactics against other fighters was mainly "hit and run" and to avoid prolonged dogfights
    But then I see the Mig-23P, ML, MLA  and MLD had the R-60 which was a ultraclose range weapon designed to counter maneuverable fighters ,from a practical standpoint when was the Mig-23 expected to use this weapon ? WHat is the benefit of having 4 of these weapons with a very short range ?
    since it was outranged by the sidewinder the Wests most common AAM
    Wouldn't it be better to equip the Mig-23 with 4 x R-24 missiles as they would give them longer spear to deal with the sidewinder armed opponents esp when the IR version of this version was essentially a fire and forget weapon

    AFAIK, in the missile range you have to put the corrections the missile makes to hit a target, so the effective hit of the missile with the target could be long before the "official" missile range. Above all if the target is an incoming target. So the missile range can also be halved, because the trajectory is a curve and not a straight line.
    At the extreme limit of its maximum range, a missile has no chances to correct its trajectory, if the target try to evade.
    The radar-guided missiles were more accurate than early infrared missiles, because the trajectory of the radar-guided missiles was a collision trajectory, where a computer calculates a point in front of the target.
    On the contrary, a IR missile needs above all to get itself behind the target, so its trajectory will be a chase trajectory. This is not good, because the missile needs to chase the target (and in this way the missile burns its propellant and has a limited range) and, if the target evades with a narrow turn, the missile needs to turn even tighter than its target (more G force), because the missile only can to chase.
    Some more sophisticated IR missiles can receive from the computer the target's data up to an instant before the launch. In this way, also the IR missile could get a collision trajectory, in this way the IR missile could be even more dangerous than a radar-missile, because an IR missile is ecm-resistant. These IR missiles do not need to get behind the target and they can be fired in many corners and not only behind the target.
    I don't know if the R-60 could get a collision trajectory.
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    Post  nastle77 Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:23 am

    GarryB wrote:It was probably available in 1982, but such weapons were not purchased in enormous numbers... the Soviet Airforce neglected purchasing expensive guided weapons.

    They had a variety of guided air to ground weapon types but their numbers in service were small and while a wide range of aircraft could carry the AS-13, it was the expensive ground attack aircraft only that carried it... ie Su-24M.

    I would not expect them to have enormous numbers of the system but the air units that would have deployed it would have been Fencer units.
    understandable so for example the R73 AA11 archer was not available in enormous numbers in the late 80s yet enough to equip atleast every mig29 with 2 rounds and maybe su27 with a couple
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    Post  GarryB Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:28 pm

    Archer is a very capable missile for two main reasons... it has a good seeker, and it has thrust vectoring control which allows it to perform hard turns off the pylon if needed.

    It should be remembered that the IR guided models of R-27 have the same model IR seekers as the R-73 and because of the larger missile body have a wider off boresight capability of 55 degrees instead of the R-73s 45 degrees.

    It was not available in enormous numbers in the mid 80s when it entered service, but light AAMs are like MANPADS or cruise missiles... they are relatively cheap to mass produce... by the late 1980s they would have plenty, though not for export customers...

    They would easily have had enough to deal with most western aircraft in NATO by the end of the 1980s... remember at the time NATO relied on Sidewinders and WVR combat because they thought they had the edge in fighter pilot training... R-73 and Helmet mounted sights would have obliterated NATO forces and they would have had to rely on BVR capability... and ironically their main fighter... the F-16 didn't have AMRAAM then so it would be useless. F-15s would have been at a serious disadvantage against R-27 armed MiG-29s let alone Su-27s...

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