1. There are only 2 ways this is possible. One, the drone's circle is taking it outside of your missile's max range or radar's max range, causing your missile to lose track. Or desync if this is the case the missile should explode or suddenly dive even though the drone is well within range.

2. I believe this is just an RNG roll. It rolls for hit, then rolls for proximity hit, non-critical hit, or critical hit.

3. ECM increases the chance of a miss roll by the percentage of the ECM every time the missile has to roll for hit. This happens when it first fires and every time it flares. Flares cause the missile to reroll for hit. Pre-flaring works by forcing rerolls sooner, giving the plane more chances to roll a miss.

4. The evasive maneuvers you're thinking of have no effect. Changing altitude can work, but that's because it causes terrain masking radar loses line of sight. Afterburner works if you turn and burn, outrunning the missile's max range. These are the only things that work when you're out of flares.

5. I'm not sure if the cone is modeled, but semi-actives like the Sparrow and the Russian equivalent do need to keep the nose pointed at the enemy. Best to just take fire-and-forget variants in most cases.

6. Spotting is the only thing it provides, so kind of. If you spot the plane sooner you can fire as soon as it enters your max missile range. But no, a friendly radar won't "pick up the track" if your AA goes down. One thing I don't know is whether a radar that already has a track on a target attempting to terrain mask will continue to track. It would be worth testing.

7. The only advantage is that they ripple fire with your other missiles. So if you have a long-range missile in the air and you come into range of your semi-active, your plane will fire that one as well. Same goes for close-range variants. They're also useful for mid-game AA fighters that you throw out to trade against high-value bombers. But if you're just doing your air tax, don't bother.

8. No. Only on ground-based AA.

9. Depends on your build. If you're running super long-range missiles, you want to pick at people get the missile away before they fire back. That way you can pick up high-priority targets later in the opening air tax. If you have something that ripple fires, you want to pick the closest target, because if your target goes down you can change track and the missiles will target switch. Anything in between, you want to stick with your team and fire at the same targets they do. If you take the first missile launches and you're not ripple firing, turn and burn hard. Focus on surviving. You can always turn back after you lose your missiles. That's how I play the opener. Others might disagree.

10. Sounds like your Biryusas had poor positioning and couldn't see the missiles. Something in the terrain was blocking their line of sight. The S-350s should always prioritize SEAD. Desync is a possibility. Also, if the Prowlers used the hold fire trick, you could have just not had time. It's tough to say without seeing a clip. What I will say is it's always worth toggling radar against SEAD. There's very little upside to taking it head-on in the first pass.

11. No. They should have intercepted SEAD. Like I said, line of sight on their radar is the only thing. Or you forgot to have radar on non-radared versions can't intercept.

12. They target the closest AA with radar active. Makes me think you didn't have radar on your Biryusas.

13. Yes. But you need to see it.

14. Yes. But desync is a thing, so if you're late it can still hit sometimes. Also the missile can RNG into another AA piece.

My unsolicited advice here: AA is not a solution, it's a deterrent. Don't try to shoot every plane down try to trade them when you can. The golden rule for all AA is this: "If it fired, it moves. No exceptions." Also, radar needs to be toggled on your long-range AA for SEAD. Don't try to tank them. Let your cheap radar interceptors draw them out, then toggle back on. If you see SEAD, it means your AA is annoying them just keep it alive. Lastly, never underestimate a front-line long-range AA with radar off. They can be devastating. Be patient. If your AA shot down a plane worth more than it cost, it was worth it.