Russian missile design house Vympel is pushing ahead with the development of an export variant of the R-77 (AA-12Adder) medium-range active radar-guided air-to-air missile. Pictured is what appears to be an export-modified R-77 ready for a test firing. The carriage pylon is marked AKU-170E, rather than the standard AKU-170, the E designator implying an export modification. Vympel officials suggested in September that a handful of R-77s had already been delivered to the Malaysian air force as part of its purchase of the MAPO-MiG MiG-29 Fulcrum. The R-77 is not thought to have yet entered full-scale production, so Malaysia may have been supplied with a few missiles from an initial development batch. The MiG-29 in the image appears to be an S model, Fulcrum C, with the modified N-O19M casse grain radar associated with carriage of the R-77. This radar modification is understood to be being provided to Malaysia.
Source: Flight International