Friends,

You will forgive me that I write in English. In Canada, we suffer a shortage of Cyrillic keyboards.

For the R-27T, there is a correct answer, no "western" or "eastern" interpretation. I believe that we all seek the same realism.

I followed this discussion with some hope that it would determine the correct answer. I am disappointed to see that in the end, we discuss probabilities, uncertainties, and the "western" and "our" beliefs. I was assured that the goal was to determine the truth, and I am disappointed to see that this has now been abandoned for "two years later at MAKS," and that the real objective was not to determine the truth, but to press the probabilities.

I am angry when a western pilot says "I know something you do not, I cannot tell you because it is secret, but you are wrong." And then often, later, he discovers that HE is wrong, by some OTHER secret he did not know. I will not do the same thing. I will not tell you the R-27T has no datalink, and then not give a reason. I understand that my credibility has already suffered, with my error in quoting the MiG-29 manual.

But I encourage you to not stop the research. There is for example one more non-secret thing that I think has not been considered.

Look at the R-27T in the photos and books, on the Su-27 aircraft. It is always mounted on the wing. Only the R-27R can be mounted under the engines. This indicates that the R-27T seeker must be able to see the target, to lock onto it. If it had a datalink course correction, this would not be necessary for the beginning of the flight.

Please, this is not Olympic figure skating. Let us determine the real answer and use the real tactics of real Russian pilots in Lock On. It must be more accurate than Falcon SP2 in the Russian systems, not less.

Thank you for your consideration.

With respect.