R-73 (missile)

The R-73 is a short-range, infrared-homing air-to-air missile developed by Vympel NPO and known to NATO as the AA-11 Archer. Work began in 1973 under the designation K-73 to replace the older R-60 carried by Soviet fighters, and the first missiles formally entered service in 1984. Its cooled infrared seeker can detect targets up to 40 degrees off the missile centerline, and a pilot can designate a target simply by looking at it through a helmet-mounted sight. Minimum engagement range is about 300 meters and maximum aerodynamic range is nearly 31 kilometers at altitude. The missile arms the MiG-29, MiG-31 and the Su-27 family, among other aircraft. When Germany and other former Warsaw Pact states inherited large stockpiles after 1990, Western analysts concluded the R-73 was more maneuverable than the latest AIM-9 Sidewinder, with a better seeker. It has been fired in combat in the Eritrean-Ethiopian War and, in a surface-to-air role, in the war in Ukraine, and it was developed further into the R-74 line.