EVERY SIDEWINDER COMPARED: AIM-9B to AIM-9L

[@jaek_898]

Yes, I know the R-3S is derived from the AIM-9B. No, it is not an AIM-9B, it's different (worse), I guess a lot of people think it's copy paste. When I say USSR is the only tree without a 9B, I mean they're the only one without an actual name brand 9B. The soviet/chinese sidewinders from wish might look like their american counterparts, but they are unique and they deserve their own video. Keep in mind launch ranges vary drastically depending on the situation- an AIM-9B might struggle to hit a 1.5km shot in a supersonic chase while an AIM-9L might be able to reach over 10km in ideal conditions. "2-3km" was a generalization for the 9B. Also I guess I used the 9G when talking about the 9D's range, it doesn't matter since the 9D, 9G, and 9H all have identical range anyway

[@jankiefer3039]

Your videos are straight fire 🔥

[@jarebare510]

you should have measured the thrust of the missiles in delta V, it wouldn't have mattered as much because all aim9s weigh about the same, but its a better number to compared to other missiles you may see. Edit: It would be most helpful to have both, to prove than the 9D has a longer range than the 9J, or even an R60.

[@tavolo2969]

USSR is not the only one without the 9B. We have Sweden too

[@XxCarrt3rxX]

Now do every ir missile :)

[@roadhigher]

@@tavolo2969 RB-24's and RB-24J are identical to the AIM-9B and AIM-9J in every way other than the name. The R-3S has slight differences to the AIM-9B while the R-3R and R-13M are completely unique missiles.

[@SkinkUA]

EVERY PLANE COMPARED: FROM PO-2 TO F-14B

[@jaek_898]

Oh dear god

[@vavord5181]

AND DON'T FORGET TB-3!!

[@hydrodrift]

Po-2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> F-14

[@AveryStepney]

Yeessssss

[@AveryStepney]

I’ll help

[@ODST_Parker]

Video would've been too long?! My guy, you make these as long as you want. I'm here for it, all the way. Thank you so much for making simple yet comprehensive guides like this. It's always useful information, answering small questions I've had for a long time, but never bothered to research myself. Love learning anything I can about these things.

[@R0ZEN7]

Have you ever made a video before? Quite a lot of work can go into them.

[@ODST_Parker]

@@R0ZEN7 Yeah, that's probably why I said "as long as you want" and not "make them longer."

[@perennialE]

This is me when I compare the differences between every AIM-9 Sidewinder in the game

[@whiskersthecatboi]

Omg it's NileThunder

[@Rorywizz]

peenreenial moment!

[@ImLoreYT]

Bro is a godsend to the war thunder community

[@dinner_is_kay2940]

The 9L flare resistance part explained something that happened to me earlier today very well. The clip on how not to flare it looked exactly like what I did :sob: so thanks for the clarification. Very good video.

[@luckytronc2083]

Ive been waiting for a good comparison for the sidewinder thank you so much!

[@TheDAWinz]

Another informative Jaek BANGER!!! Thanks for the information jaek.

[@greywhizzadventurer8535]

Dude I gotta admit your channel is one of the best at providing this sort of highly detailed yet at a glance info. No other Warthunder channel I've found is as informative and concise as yours. Here's hoping to lots more comparison guide videos from you! (P.S. I am grinding through the German Soviet jets right now, can we see a Russian Missiles comparisons sometime soon?)

[@Sweeps_]

There’s a high chance of gaijin adding AIM-9M to the game soon since the R73 is coming and they’ll need a suitable counterpart for it

[@vavord5181]

I'm sure, R73 for that new Su-25 will be just some sort of a techbed - a way to justify appearance of a missile in battles while testing it, tuning its performance and analyzing data. And then, I guess in summer 2024 we will see it appearing for a variety of fighters.

[@TheDAWinz]

The best 9M is still inferior to the earliest R73.

[@Mr.TangerineMan]

They are gonna add the r73 nerfed like it was in the dev server and how the magic 2 is toned down. They arent gonna add aim9m and they arent gonna give r73 eccm like it has so there is no need for aim9m since it is an aim9l with a different seeker

[@Skoodelly]

@@TheDAWinz The latest AIM9M variant the AIM-9M-8/9 (there is also the AIM-9M-10 upgrade retrofitted Sidewinder missiles from the AIM-9M-8 configuration to meet the requirements of the F/A-18E/F flight environment) features an upgraded seeker which incorporated electronics processing modifications to improve the tracking capabilities against modern Infrared Countermeasures (aka IRCM), The earliest r73s while arguably better performing than the AIM-9M lacked potent countermeasure resistance which wasnt fixed until the "Mayak" OGS MK-80 upgrade was introduced (it improved the missile in many ways other than flare resistance for example how well it tracks targets but I am too bored to write it all). So no, the best aim9m is not inferior than the earliest R73, It's either better because of the potent flare resistance or a side grade but is in no means objectively inferior. However when talking about comparing the aim9m to the later r73 variants its safe to say that yes the r73s are probably substantially better.

[@AZ-dj1ni]

​@@TheDAWinzhow is inferior?

[@SeekerHead]

-4:50 you saying stuff like this mid video completely catches me off guard, professional and clean script then randomly says “kind of cheeks” 💀

[@jaek_898]

Joob is not ready for me to use the word "junt" in a script

[@Skoodelly]

Ngl your videos about missiles are genuinely one of my favorites across war thunder yt, they are really well made.

[@gruneflamme2013]

A nice bonus for the AIM-9G (and above) is that some rangefinders can also slave the missile seeker, though you sometime don't get to choose which aircraft is targeted if you have a tight group ahead of you. My Kfir C2 grind was really bad until I unlocked the G.

[@jackschenk9516]

Small note, absolutely love the background choice for music. I’m a huge AC fan

[@PraecipeWrit]

Great job! Every missile in the game deserves such an imformative guide.

[@red_moon_7760]

If you are willing to sacrifice a bit of accuracy, its easier to read the booster force in kilo newton instead of newton. For example in the aim 9e, it can be just 18.1 kN instead of 18100 N.

[@jaek_898]

This is a good point

[@christianmariogreco9330]

ac music while on a war thunder lesson is therapeutic. thank you for this wonderful explanation.

[@EzioD86]

Too long ? u jokin man, these are DELICIOUS to see and hear again and again

[@nemanjaaleksic644]

Very usefull explanation mate. Week ago i had bought F-5C and in meantime i managed to adapt to it. Now ill have better awearnes about enemy missiles😊

[@peter_bg7967]

damn i rlly wanted to see the ebay sidewinders BUT still amazing video dude please keep em up!!!

[@jaek_898]

The ebay sidewinders can probably be their own video 🙏

[@adyvipond4342]

These are some awesome videos, just awesome mate well done! Could listen to this stuff all day.

[@matiasphantom3581]

We need videos like this, i really love what are you doing here

[@theegunpro4561]

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, THAT ACE COMBAT 5 OST IS GODLIKE. PURE NOSTALGIA

[@JasonLatouche]

This is amazing... the best combination between history, physics, teaching and game parameters ever...

[@kiri101]

Finally someone makes a guide I can understand before my coffee goes cold! I'd love to hear more about other nations' missiles, particularly the quirks of the Chinese ones. The best feature of the video was the consistent graph and the emphasis on the branching paths between Navy and Air Force missiles; the real world context aids memorisation and the flowchart kept it manageable once there were too many items to organise in short term memory. Bonus points for actually referencing the game files instead of just 'I think'.

[@tomtech1537]

Excellent content, great to have some current information coming out.

[@Gypples]

These guides make high tier make sense, thanks. lol

[@greywhizzadventurer8535]

Quick update to whoever watches this video and sorts by new, the Aim 9J and Flz Lwf 63/80 no longer has radar slaving for whatever reason. So it is NOT equivalent to the Aim 9P or the RB24J which still retains radar slaving. Doesn't sound like a big deal to some but it can be an extremely useful ability to radar lock someone to keep the seeker on while in an intense dogfight.

[@kiliandrilltzsch8272]

well the Flz Lwf 63/80 is on a hunter with a small radar. so radarslavnig wont be really a thing when it can detect planes outside the radar range

[@GeneralLee2000]

Me when AIM-9Meatloaf

[@Vipbossguy]

what💀

[@YouvBeenThumped]

This has helped me a lot today with the F-4EJ ADTW

[@tartzmir7934]

Note: the new AIM-9Ms have IRCCM similar to the Russian R-73s, the catch being that the R-73s use Gateway whilst the AIM-9M uses a querky unlock mechanic, simply to put, if it sees multiple heat source, it will turn off it's lock, this means that after it passes the flare and only see a single heat source left, it'll relock, the best way to counter it right now is to flare with afterburner off whilst changing aspect

[@jaek_898]

Only AIM-9M has it. 9L has increased flare resistance in the same way that the R60M and Python 3 do.

[@tartzmir7934]

@@jaek_898mb thx for pointing out anyways

[@madrigo]

great video with amazing soundtrack. cheers!

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

Every sidewinder name: just an added letter or a slightly different number Germany: *MAKE IT A FRACTION!!!*

[@memecat_]

After that intro you know it's gonna be great

[@CaptainLegionary]

YESSSS!!!!!! ive been waiting forever!!!!!

[@soflam4276]

nice music choice man

[@janstefan694]

AIM9C is total badass. One of my favorite missiles.

[@addam6666]

Here is a cool way to use 9-B: if the enemy is faster than you fire the missile to force him to turn and then get him with more reliable guns

[@garudalead]

I call the 9D the Sniper Missile because at altitude it can absolutely get a kill from 5km away.

[@lalelin7727]

Excelent video man, thanks so much.

[@__pizzaWT]

6:55 got me kek

[@DamianBeBallin]

ello pizza

[@gunnermalone]

The Ace Combat background music shows this is a man of culture.

[@jamesmorton7881]

The AIM_9H. Lead bias was ongoing during my internship in the late 60s at Mic Labs. Great times at NWC.

[@AstroGamer_da_real]

AIM-9M Is Now Here And Aslo Low-Smoke

[@pyronuke4768]

The difference between the G and H, historically, is in the electronics. The G was using vacuum tubes, but concerns that their fragility was causing reliability issues resulted in the redesigning of the seeker to use solid state electronics (think circuit boards and microchips) instead. In terms of preformance though the two missiles are practically identical. You only need to be more careful when transporting and storing the G's.

[@jaek_898]

@@pyronuke4768 the H also got some more powerful fin actuators which improved responsiveness apparently

[@AJ-170SkyStriker]

In a few years, the AIM-9X may start seeing things. The famous "launch at planes behind you" Sidewinder

[@Vahni06]

Something really interesting I found was the AIM-9J’s has a seeker that tracks a specific range of temperature, rejecting early flares. I was playing GRB with my F-5E and fired one at an Su-25 and while they were flaring, the missile hit around 2-3 second later.

[@jaek_898]

AIM-9Js can ignore flares sometimes, especially from rear aspect, same as other missiles from that era. There are only three types of flares in the game: large caliber, small caliber, and BOL (F14B/Gripen's extra flares). Against small caliber flares like the Su25 has, it's pretty rare, but it does happen.

[@greenmountaineer]

As of the last update, the AIM9J no longer supports radar slaving, but has an absolutely massive seeker gimbal range

[@ww32]

Fun fact. The AIM-9C was converted to a SEAD missile late in its life when the airforce and navy realized they had a bunch laying around and nothing to do with them. Every single one was expended during the first gulf war.

[@jopl2597]

I once actually managed to do the trade missiles thing with a su25, and after it flared his R60, my 9B managed to proxy fuse the su25 while not being guided, imo pretty cool

[@emeraldeyes9246]

Here's a fun thing for missles, make your drop bomb series the same as your fire missiles button, carry 2 bombs, select fire all as the drop bomb series, drop bombs then use the drop bomb series to fire the missiles, enjoy your ace combat gameplay

[@captaincipher]

Bro threw in the ace combat 5 lobby music and thought we wouldn’t notice!

[@0GTXR]

I really needed that, thanks.

[@monkesoldier3002]

Maybe now MACLOS and SACLOS A2A missiles?? Or stinger and stinger-like missiles comparison?

[@-Hari-03]

another 10/10 vid jaek :)

[@aldousfoxly]

Thank you, very helpful video

[@nicholasleon7819]

0:50 when you think about it, every tech tree in the game has an AIM-9B since the soviets reverse engineered it

[@midladder]

Achually 🤓 it was copied by the Chinese,an AIM9B that got stuck in a Taiwanese plane

[@Garfieldonaperc]

Every Jaek post Compared

[@Rorywizz]

I remember getting the Harrier gr.7 before AIM-9Ls were nerfed against flares and i swear on anything it was the best fighter in the game at the time

[@ovrwrldkiler]

I remember feeling exasperation as they would just slap me through flares even with the throttle down. 'Aw shit I guess I just got outplayed'. XD

[@luckypingu8514]

Aim9C my beloved missile

[@thatguywhousesr3105]

very informative. cool video dude

[@bubblesofthecoast6393]

7:25 iirc, the 9H was designed due to issues with the 9G regarding operating off a carrier, so it makes sense that it isn't that different from the 9G, if at all otherwise.

[@jaek_898]

It also had some better actuators apparently, so it's supposed to be a little more responsive to changes in direction AFAIK, I guess gaijin didn't model that (or there isn't a good source on it)

[@bubblesofthecoast6393]

@@jaek_898 Guess that must be why they changed the number from 12 to 20. Too bad it really doesn’t do much of anything

[@PaddyMcQueen]

Good video thx for sharing. Subscribed

[@Tir33nts343]

For what it’s worth, the Aim-9P is also the export AIM-9J

[@emergency_broadcast_system]

I remember when the aim9L actually resisted flares back a few updates ago. But now it's basically just a longer ranged r60m

[@TamamoF0X]

9L still amazing tho, as most people think dumping flares and not even turning off afterburner is sufficient enough, then coping with some bug that never existed

[@Pururut]

@@TamamoF0X my only gripe is it has no place on things like the a-10 and a-6e

[@lucascousins6934]

Once the R-73 is Added, i think we should get the AIM-9R to compensate Basically a 9L with an imaging IR seeker And we shouls get the HAP, the 9L seeker on a 7E motor

[@steffent.6477]

The missile on the swiss Hunter feels much worse then I would expect fro a 9P.

[@Rags-Sgar]

I had a good lunch

[@real_pl]

you should compare all the ussr missiles next

[@KenDavis-sl7io]

This helped me, thanks!

[@reedman0780]

Please do one for Russian missiles, as the sps K is in quite a bit of a weird position. It has ussr missiles but those at the tech tree has western missiles. R-60s are also changing from time to time and the guides for either the missiles or the plane are outdated now. Oh and the R-3R being nice at head ons to those that dont expect it

[@Jaystarzgaming]

The M’s are now in the game with the F-15A and F-16C

[@liormalka8246]

The aim-9D seems to have some sort of flare resistance; it’ll always go for the target and not a flare within 1km.

[@hitomaru12]

I hope the Aim-9P variants get added soon. The T-2 carried P-4s, and the F-1 carried 9Ls (still no clue why they don’t get them in game). These would really help since the missiles they have had since they got added aren’t too effective at their BRs anymore. Also, doesn’t the Swiss Hunter get a specific P variant?

[@lucascousins6934]

It should have the equivalent of the P-3, which would have a larger warhead(functionally) and a smokeless motor

[@darktemplardelta268]

Well we got the Aim-9P for the T2 just not the P4 variant

[@KristianErlandJacobsen]

If I were to guess, I think track rate is how often the missile updates tracking information every second or something like that. Just a guess

[@saltysteel3996]

And the AIM-9M is a 40G All Aspect Flare Proof missile. Can't wait for it to be added.

[@TheDAWinz]

It's got the same plane G pull as the 9L, and it's IRCCM is not "flare proof", if its the early block its actually flare hungry because its IRCCM did not work against soviet CMs. The later blocks fixed it, but it's IRCCM was still average at best.

[@noahbohren7295]

What about a comparsion of all the MiG-21s?

[@jaek_898]

Aiming for that to be the next video

[@noahbohren7295]

gonna be a good one!

[@Z.O.M.G]

Locking onto the sun is crazy

[@Santander_wows]

No there eraly missle have bad heat seeker compare to modern

[@costmceleoy4531]

He should actually remake this entire video because war thunder decided to update it so the 9J won't lock on to your radar

[@Lykas_mitts]

0:43 I mean technically the R-3 is an Aim-9B copy, well reverse engineered but heyo.

[@jace8785]

Thats also what the chinese pl 2 are too

[@notnurfcreanga]

false, the r3s is reverse engineered but its actually inferior in some aspects (3 kg fatter, 0.5km less sight range, 1 less km launch range) but ~1kg of explosive (useless) and 1 extra second of guidance time (useless)

[@bathtuub2819]

I knew all of this information ( same with the f-16 and phantom vids) but yet i still feel compelled to watch all the videos. Am I insane?

[@a.anonymous1318]

I swear there was a video like this on the AIM-7 Sparrows

[@jaek_898]

@@a.anonymous1318 check the playlists on my channel. Unlisted because it's outdatated and needs replacement

[@a.anonymous1318]

@@jaek_898 thanks a lot man, will definitly still be useful

[@Melle6991]

I love the aim9C its underrated I love it in sim and is my main missile most people dont bring chaff into sim at the br of the F-8E it's a creat base protector/interceptor and in my opinion the radar isn't to bad on the F-8E when you set up your radar right you don't want it on the wide mode

[@Adaminkton]

Now waiting for all soviet missiles compered!

[@Mercnotforhire]

Honestly, a video covering the different families of missiles would be great considering WT doesn't really have much in the way of community guides, and the wiki is....sparse.

[@19DESERTFOX91]

the Aim-9c was an insanely good while back when I got the f-8. Climb high and head on A-5 spam and yeah easy 2-4 kills every game. haven't played it in like a year so idk if this tactic even works anymore. If it still does though its a really easy way to quickly grind. It got past like 6 jets i didn't care for.

[@ollilaine6763]

It still works roughly the same but its guidance is messed up since Gaijin uses a PID controller for all missiles and they tune the PID themselves.

[@omniguru9788]

I don’t play anymore and I never got to the high tiers but it was still a good watch

[@Tjecktjeck]

I always thought radar sleeving also slightly increases the angle of which missile can lock on to target in relative to their 6. I am wrong?

[@rolandjaycutter3504]

Would love to see a video one the MiG-23s.

[@WOLFER.]

AIM-9M is also a 40G missiles, its fins are reinforced allowing the fins to be more aggressive and have 40G's i heard it also has very early thrust vectoring but that last bit im very un sure off as i couldnt gind any sources except for dcs but as for the reinforced fins, that is true and there are sources of that being mentioned, and its flare resistance is going to be alot better than the R73 but it can be flared, youll probably have to put your throttle all the way lower than 50% and pop 3 flares at intervals will turning into to the missile

[@samu_155]

actually there is a small mistake with the Aim-9J - while playing with the italy Starfighters, you can't radarslave the missle anymore, because it was removed in a update a while ago

[@jaek_898]

Yeah this video is out of date already

[@Coliflower185]

0:44 I mean the USSR kinda has an AIM-9B, since the R-3S was reverse engineered from it. 4:00 the 9P ingame currently is different, it has radar slaving while the J doesn’t. That can be a good or bad thing depending on the situation.

[@jaek_898]

Read pinned comment

[@Coliflower185]

⁠@@jaek_898 missed that

[@stefanmichaelsenzegarra5688]

the track rate is how much the missile can turn. its pretty weird how if works but let me explain it between the R60 and the 9L, when you shoot the R60 it tracks immediately but it turns at a modest rate even though its 30G and the acceleration is greater than the 9L. However, the 9L has a greater track rate compared to the R60 and when you launch it thats why it immediately pulls a lot of lead and starts going after the target. So I would say that the track rate is a mix between the acceleration of the missile and how hard it can pull REGARDLESS of how fast it 'tracks off the rail'. One way to see it is just looking at the missiles then again, if you pay close attention to the R60 and the 9L you will see that they track differently on side aspect and frontal aspect. There is a hint of the track rate in there

[@jaek_898]

Track rate and the ability to turn are completely disconnected. When I set a missile to 5°/s and another to 50°/s and fire them both at the same 90° off boresight time they both pull equally hard off the rail. What does affect ability to turn off the rail is a combination of guidance delay, propoertional navigation (and guidance tuning), and maneuverability constraints (in the case of SARH missiles). Since all of these are the same in the case of 9G vs 9H, there is absolutely no difference whatsoever in their ability to start a turn after launching. When you're comparing R-60 and 9L you're just looking at WAY too many variables. Track rate is different, but so is pretty much everything else which is why they don't behave the same. It's not the difference in track rate that's causing that.

[@AceOfThunderYT]

Nice video, will you do a f86 sabre comparison some time?

[@0GTXR]

Can you make that intro as a youtube short?

[@Joni-fx5xq]

Pls do french Radar missels, there are som of the Most junike in the game

[@ChutneyGames]

Aim 9s from their force burn short enough you can sometimes bleed their energy with one well timed turn. Aim 9s from the Navy burn for much longer and carry more energy further making it easier to get caught in its burn phase in its highest munuverability, but they can still be energy fought without flares bleeding energy with multiple turns. The L is in a league of it's own because of its seekerhead and smarter tracking. The only way to not get punked in a Korean era jet is to keep constant vigilance and always position in a way that you can notch or make the missile miss it's first pass and turn back. You can energy fight them if fires from far enough but you'll be out of position and out of energy when the second one comes.

[@STHV_]

The 9D is also used by the British Phantoms

[@moldovarnidk]

you should do a video comparing every mig 21 in game

[@V4Ng0]

believe me the HAP seems the goofiest of all