The Soviet-era R-73 dogfight missile is fast becoming established as a weapon of choice for Ukrainian extemporized surface-to-air missile systems. The Soviet-era R-73 dogfight missile is fast becoming established as a weapon of choice for Ukrainian extemporized surface-to-air missile systems.
The R-73 is pretty comparable to the American AIM-9X in that it’s IR and can do off-bore shots. Main downside of both is the range. Always good to have something that can use those short-range missiles, not too many within-visual-range dogfights in the last decades. But, lots of low-flying cruise missiles…