OVERSWEEPThe Interactive Flight Reference

R-27 "Alamo"

A grey MiG-29 with German markings over the sea, a large missile just leaving its wing in a burst of flame and smoke
A German Air Force MiG-29 of the 73rd Fighter Wing fires an R-27 at a QF-4 target drone during a live-fire exercise, June 2003.Photo: Camera Operator: TSGT MICHAEL AMMONS, USAF. Public domain, work of the US federal government, via Wikimedia Commons (accessed 2026-10-27).

Drafted — not technically validated

Record revision 1 · The Flanker and Fulcrum's medium-range missile, built in radar, infrared and anti-radiation versions on one airframe.

Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.

Vympel R-27 medium-range air-to-air missile, NATO AA-10 "Alamo" · R-27, AA-10 Alamo

Type
Medium-range, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile [1]
Origin
Soviet Union; built by Vympel in Russia and Artem in Ukraine [1]
In service
Since 1983 [1]
Weight
253 kg (558 lb) [1]
Dimensions
Length 4.08 m; diameter 230 mm; wingspan 772 mm [1]
Warhead or payload
39 kg (86 lb) blast-fragmentation or continuous-rod warhead [1]
Guidance
Semi-active radar homingHoming GlossaryNavigation: Flying to a station by keeping the bearing pointer at the top of the instrument without correcting for wind. In a crosswind it flies a curved path.Weapons: The technique whereby a mobile station directs itself, or is directed, towards a source of primary or reflected energy, or to a specified point. in the R-27R and ER; infrared in the R-27T and ET; active radar in the R-27EA; passive anti-radiation in the R-27P [1]
Motor
Solid-fuel rocket; the extended-range E versions are heavier, the R-27ET 348 kg [1]
Fuzing
Radar proximity fuzeProximity fuze GlossaryWeapons: A fuze that detonates before impact when any substantial object is detected at a predetermined distance from it. and impact fuzes [1]
Range
R-27R: maximum 73 km, but for a target at the same altitude the effective kill range is 2 to 42.5 km head-on and only 0.7 to 7.5 km tail-on [1]
Carried by
  • Su-27Su-27 Flanker AircraftA large, long-range Soviet air superiority fighter with ten missile stations., Su-33Su-33 Flanker-D AircraftThe carrier-based Flanker: canards, folding wings and a ski-jump launch from Admiral Kuznetsov., MiG-29MiG-29 Fulcrum AircraftA twin-engine Soviet fighter with a helmet sight and R-73 missiles, built to counter the F-15 and F-16. and the J-11J-11A AircraftChina's licence-assembled Su-27SK, with new displays and the R-77 missile. [1]
  • Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 [1]
Variants
  • R-27R and R-27T: semi-active radar and infrared versions [1]
  • R-27ER and R-27ET: extended-range versions [1]
  • R-27P and R-27EP: passive anti-radiation versions [1]

One missile, many seekers

The R-27 comes in versions with different seekers on a common design. The radar-guided R-27R needs the fighter’s radar on the target, like the SparrowAIM-7 Sparrow OrdnanceThe West's main radar-guided missile from the late 1950s to the 1990s, which homes on radar energy the fighter reflects off its target.; the R-27T uses an infrared seeker; and the extended-range “E” versions are heavier, at 348 kg for the R-27ET, and reach further. [1] Anti-radiation and active-radar versions followed. [1] The type entered service in 1983 and arms the Su-27Su-27 Flanker AircraftA large, long-range Soviet air superiority fighter with ten missile stations. and MiG-29MiG-29 Fulcrum AircraftA twin-engine Soviet fighter with a helmet sight and R-73 missiles, built to counter the F-15 and F-16. families. [1]

What range means

Wikipedia’s figures for the R-27R show why a single range number misleads. Its maximum range is 73 km, but against a target at the same altitude its effective kill range is 2 to 42.5 km head-on and only 0.7 to 7.5 km against a target flying away. [1] A target running from the missile makes it fly much further to catch up.

Combat

In the 1999 Eritrean–Ethiopian War, Ethiopian Su-27s fought Eritrean MiG-29s; only one R-27 fired by a Su-27 fuzedFuze GlossaryWeapons: A device that causes the detonation of an explosive charge at the proper time after certain conditions are met. A bomb fuze is mechanical or electrical, and is classed by what sets it off (impact, mechanical time… close enough to a MiG to bring it down, and that aircraft crashed on landing. [1]

Sources

  1. R-27 (air-to-air missile). Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-27_(air-to-air_missile) (accessed 2026-10-27).

Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.