But ORAC, if the radar is on, you can forget about the sneak up and **** over the head approach.
Noisy, as with any missile, it depends were it hits. An AIM-9 doesn't have to blow a jet to bits, but I reckon that a solid hit on an engine would have a good chance of leading to engine pylon failure which could damage the integrity of the wing which could turn things into a very bad day for the heavy pilot. etc, etc.
Size doesn't always matter.