Syria and Libya. During the Persian gulf war of 1991 on the first night, a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet of US Navy piloted by Scott Speicher of VFA-81 was shot down by an R-40 missile fired by an IQAF MiG-25 piloted by Zuhair Dawood. On 30 January 1991, an IRAF MiG-25 used an R-40 missile to damage a USAF F-15C during the Sammura air battle. Operators Current operators Former operators Retired. 660 missiles originally delivered. Captured examples used as makeshift surface-to-air missiles. Passed on to successor states. Notes References External links Federation of American Scientists page GlobalSecurity.org page Air-to-air missiles of Russia Air-to-air missiles of the Soviet Union Cold War air-to-air missiles of the Soviet Union Vympel NPO products Military equipment introduced in the 1970s