M2, That like comparing oranges with refridgerators they are completely different beasts Aster 15 is a short/medium range weapon. Aster 30 and the later 45 would be a better comparison. There's no doubt that Aster is the more agile and its faster. Standard OTOH has a longer range and a bigger warhead, but it is still limited by its semi- active seeker, so you are still having to timeshare TIRs which is a big draw back.