Vympel R - 73 Archer The Vympel R - 73 Archer short - range , close - combat standardized missile was developed in the Vympel Machine Building Design Bureau , and became operational in 1984 . The R - 73 is included in the weapon complex of MiG - 23MLD , MiG - 29 and Su - 27 fighters and their modifications and also of Mi - 24 , Mi - 28 and Ka - 50 helicopters . It also can be employed in flying craft which do not have sophisticated aiming systems . Description . The missile is used for engaging modern and future fighters , attack aircraft , bombers , helicopters , drones and cruise missiles , including those executing a maneuver with a g - force up to 12 . It permits the platform to intercept a target from any direction , under any weather conditions , day or night , in the presence of natural interference and deliberate jamming . It realizes the " fire and forget " principle . The missile design features a canard aerodynamic configuration : control surfaces are positioned ahead of the wing at a distance from the center of mass . The airframe consists of modular compartments accommodating the homing head , aerodynamic control surface drive system , autopilot , proximity fuze , warhead , engine , gas - dynamic control system and aileron drive system . The lifting surfaces have a small aspect ratio . Strakes are mounted ahead of the aerodynamic control surfaces . The combined aero - gas - dynamic control gives the R - 73 highly maneuverable flight characteristics . During flight , yaw and pitch are controlled by four aerodynamic control surfaces connected in pairs and by just as many gas - dynamic spoilers ( fins ) installed at the nozzle end of the engine . Control with engine not operating is provided by aerodynamic control surfaces . Roll stabilization of the missile is maintained with the help of four mechanically interconnected ailerons mounted on the wings . Drives of all missile controls are gas , powered from a solid - propellant gas generator . The passive infrared homing head supports target lock - on before launch . Guidance to the predicted position is by the proportional navigation method . The missile ' s combat equipment consists of an active proximity ( radar or laser ) fuze and impact fuze and a continuous - rod warhead . The engine operates on high - impulse solid propellant and has a high - tensile steel case . Russia ' s Vympel weapons designers have developed a one - of - a - kind air - to - air missile , which NATO has dubbed as AA - 11 , for use on foreign fighter planes . Technically and militarily the new missile , meant for quick - action dogfights , leave its foreign analogues far behind . Vympel experts have also made it possible for the new missile to be easily installed on all available types of aircraft . The AA - 11 can also be used on older planes which will now be able to effectively handle the US ' highly maneuverable F - 15 and F - 16 jets . The AA - 11 missile is based on all - new components , use new high - energy solid fuel and an advanced guidance and control system which has made it possible to minimize their size . Their exceptionally high accuracy is ensured by the missile ' s main secret , the so - called transverse control engine , which rules out misses during the final approach trajectory . The transverse control engine is still without parallel in the world . Russia has offered the export - version R - 7EE air - to - air missile system for sale so that it can be fitted to foreign - made fighter aircraft . Developed by the Vympel state - sector engineering and design bureau , the R - 7EE is designed for close - quarters aerial combat . Vympel specialists have developed a way of ensuring that the missile system can be fitted to virtually any type of aircraft . It can be fitted to older aircraft , which feature heavily in third - world countries ' air forces . [ 51 ] . The R - 73 ( " Archer " / AA - 11 ) third generation highly - maneuverable missile that has become the world ' s foremost IR guided dogfight missile . The Vympel R - 73 is now operational with the MiG - 23MLA ( Flogger K ) and all models of the MiG - 29 ( Fulcrum ) and Su - 27 ( Flanker ) . All of these aircraft incorporate helmet mounted sighting systems . The R - 73 has been designed to be fitted on new attack helicopter types such as the Mi - 28 ( Havoc ) and the Ka - 50 ( Hokum ) . It is a lock - on before launch with gymbol limits exceeding 40° during acquisition and 70° off boresight after lock . It is of basic aluminum alloy construction ( axial - symmetric cruciform scheme with small elongated tailfins ) with the following component sections : seeker , aero - rudder actuators , autopilot , prox - fuze , warhead , solid - propellant motor , aero - surfaces , and thrust vectoring control vanes . The unique combination aero and exhaust - gas maneuver control represents the world ' s first operational thrust vector missile providing an exceptional maneuver capability during the powered flight phase . Fixed stabilizers and AOA transducers are installed in the nose just aft of the seeker before fixed canard control surfaces . During the high impulse solid - rocket motor burn , the missile is controlled by the canards , joined in pairs on each control channel and by the four in - flow jet exhaust vanes which also work in pairs . The fixed tail - fins have ailerons on their trailing edges mechanically coupled to each other for roll stabilization . After motor burn out , and there is no indication of post boost cruise burn , missile control is provided only by the aerodynamic surfaces . All of the missiles gas actuators are feed by a power pressure accumulator that bleeds overboard and is estimated to be of a lower pressure then Western missiles due to reduced aerodynamic loadings on the optimized control surfaces . There is a 7 . 4 kg . ( 16 . 3 lbs . ) rod - type warhead fitted with a dual active - radar proximity and contact fuze . The R - 73 is fited to a common launcher rail that holds an internal cooling bottle . The R - 73 seeker is capable of being fired without any limitations of " G " , " AOA " , or aircraft attitude . The seeker - head can be cued to the target by matching the look angle of the locked up aircraft radar and / or IRST , or the sighting line of the pilot ' s eye through the helmet sight . Guidance to the intercept point is performed according to proportional navigation methods . The missile can engage targets maneuvering up to 12 G ' s . The minimum and maximum intercept ranges against non - maneuvering targets are published as 300 meters ( 984 feet ) to 30 kilometers ( 16 . 4 NM ) . There has been a lot of press about a possible rear - firing air - to - air missile and Sukhoi released information about a reversed missile pylon for the R - 27T ( " Alamo B " AA - 10b ) IR short - burn version . The R - 73 appears to have a better aero - chance because of its variable control exhaust jet vanes . Applications are being directed at bombers , transports , and deep strike aircraft .