R-37 (West called it AA-13 Arrow) is a big, fast and powerful air-to-air missile of long-range which is produced in Russia. Vympel company took on its development and production. Its main purpose is to replace the aging R-33 missiles as the basic Russian missile for shooting down enemy aircraft.
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ts development started in 1983 and the tests began in 1989. In 1998 the program was paused due to funding problems, but in 2006 it was back on, now part of the MiG-31BM program. The newer version is known as R-37M or RVV-BD. Some sources state that the R-37M entered production in 2014, but we surely don't know if it started serving the Russian Air Force.
The missile works with smart technology for detecting the target and navigating to it. First, the target is 'locked' by the radar of the launching platform (aircraft), the missile is launched, and then it uses its own, 9B1388 radar while flying. The missile can navigate 100% autonomously if it's required.
The newer R-37M is very agile and can reach up to 12,000-15,000m in altitude. The maximum speed reaches 7.350kmh and the missile features an impressive range of 200km.
With that specifications, it looks like R-37M can shoot down most of the military aircraft in the world!
