AA-11 Archer (R-73)

[GTX]

How about one going the other way?  When in the early 1990's, the Germans re-unified and the west got its first real look at the AA-11 Archer (R-73) and were then impressed by it, what if the Luftwaffe decided to re-equip some of their F-4Fs with it (and it's helmeted mounted sight)?

Regards,

Greg

[anthonyp]

I do this all the time.  My latest Airfix GB entries had a Eurofighter with AA-10's and AA-11's.  In the past, I had an F-4K with AA-8's, and Chinese J-10's with various western weapons (French Micas and Magic II's, Israeli Python 3's, Russian AA-11's and AA-12's, etc.).  I also put AA-10's on a mutant Hasegawa F-4J.

I know I'm forgetting others I've done.

[Archibald]

Iran?? I thought it was Iraq...
In every case the Iraqis received magic 1 in 1980, and their MiG-21s were able to fire these AAM. Some victories over F-5s and F-4s followed...  

[dy031101]

Speaking of arming Western-built aircraft with Eastern Bloc weapons, I know that a helmet-mounted sight is needed to fully exploit the capability of the R-73, but would the R-73 without HMS nevertheless still have represented enough of an improvement over, say, early or export models of Western all-aspect-capable SRAAMs?