R-3S

This page is about the infrared homing missile R-3S. For the semi-active radar homing version, see R-3R.

Description

The R-3S missile (scale is approximate)

The R-3S (K13A, AA-2A 'Atoll') is a Soviet infrared homing air-to-air missile, it was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic". It is an improved version of the original R-3 missile, which was itself a reverse-engineered AIM-9B. In-game the R-3S performs similarly to the AIM-9B, but is slightly worse in some respects.

General info

Missile characteristics
Mass	75 kg
Guidance	IR
Aspect	Rear-aspect
Lock range (rear-aspect)	3.5 km
Launch range	9 km
Maximum speed	1.7 M
Maximum overload	10 G
Missile guidance time	21 secs
Explosive mass	8.8 kg TNTeq

Effective damage

Describe the type of damage produced by this type of missile (high explosive, splash damage, etc)

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of missiles that have firepower equal to this weapon.

• AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder - A European-licensed version of the AIM-9B with their own improvements; however the performance in-game are quite similar.
• R-3S/PL-2 - Infamous as a reverse-engineered variant of the AIM-9B, the R-3 missile shares many of its in-game performances with the AIM-9B, only falling slightly short in locking and launching range.
• Shafrir - Shares in-game performance values despite their design differences
• Rb24 - Licensed-produced version of the AIM-9B for the Swedish, and as such shares in-game performance values.

Missile		Guidance					Lock range (rear-aspect)(km)	Launch range (km)	Maximum speed (Mach)	Maximum overload (g)	Mass (kg)	TNT Equivalent (kg)
		Type	Aspect	Time	Uncaged seeker	Radar slaving
	AIM-9B Sidewinder	IR	Rear	20			4	10	1.7	10	72	7.62
	AIM-9C Sidewinder	SARH	Front	60			9	18	2.5	18	95	4.69
	AIM-9D Sidewinder	IR	Rear	20			5.5	18	2.5	18	88	4.69
	AIM-9E Sidewinder	IR	Rear	20			5.5	18	2.8	10	76	7.62
	AIM-9G Sidewinder	IR	Rear	60			5.5	18	2.5	18	88	3.53
	AIM-9H Sidewinder	IR	Rear	60			5.5	18	2.5	18	88	3.53
	AIM-9J Sidewinder	IR	Rear	40			5.5	18	2.5	20	76	7.62
	AIM-9L Sidewinder	IR	All	60			11	18	2.5	30	84	4.58
	AIM-9M Sidewinder	IR	All	60			11	18	2.5	30	84	4.58
	AIM-9P Sidewinder	IR	Rear	40			5.5	18	2.5	20	76.93	7.62
	AIM-9P4 Sidewinder	IR	All	40			11	18	2.5	20	76.93	7.62
	AIM-9B FGW.2 Sidewinder	IR	Rear	20			5.5	10	1.7	10	72	7.62
	Shafrir	IR	Rear	20			7	10	1.7	11	65	7.62
	RB24	IR	Rear	20			4	10	1.7	10	72	7.62
	R-3S	IR	Rear	21			9	10	1.7	10	75	8.8
	PL-2	IR	Rear	21			9	10	1.7	10	75	8.8

Usage in battles

It is one of the first air-to-air missiles in the game, it is therefore really rudimentary in its operation. It can only lock on the target if it is right behind it, it will also not be able to lock if the target is in in front of the sun. Any curve tighter than 9G will be enough for the missile to miss the target: only fire if the target is distracted or running away. The missile's speed is also not very high, limited to only Mach 1.7. This means a limited range at low altitude, but it can be circumvented at high altitudes since the higher the less atmospheric air to cause drag on the missile, translating into a greater range and manoeuvrability.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Able to reach out and attack non-manoeuvring aircraft

Cons:

• Poor tracking
• Very low launch overload limit
• Low in-flight G-overload

History

The origin of the R-3 missile has many stories, but it starts in 1954 with Matus Ruvimovich Bisnovat's OKB-4 (renamed 1967 as GMKB Vympel), which was specialized in the development of air-to-air missiles. Bisnovat's OKB-4 soon received a captured and intact AIM-9B Sidewinder from China. The Chinese reportedly obtained the Sidewinder either as an unexploded missile launched by a Taiwanese F-86, or in a crashed fighter wreckage that carried the missile. Either way, OKB-4 was instructed to reverse-engineer the missile into a working design for Soviet aircraft.

By 1959, OKB-4 has reproduced the missile and tested their design on a Mikoyan SM-9/3T (a variant of the MiG-19S for testing purposes) and the Ye-6T (likewise variant of the MiG-21). The conclusion of the tests allowed OKB-4's missile to move towards production and service as the R-3S (S - sereeynaya (Production)). The missile was also known by the name K-13, or under its NATO designation AA-2 Atoll.

The missile would first arm the MiG-21F-13 , and would go on to arm many other variants of the MiG-21 family and other Soviet fighter aircraft. It would later be improved in the R-3R and R-13M missile.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Gordon, Yefim. Soviet/Russian Aircraft Weapons Since World War II. Midland Publishing, 2004.
• Lai, Benjamin. The Dragon's Teeth: The Chinese People's Liberation Army - Its History, Traditions, and Air Sea and Land Capability in the 21st Century. Casemate Publishers, 14 July 2016.