Originally Posted by GrahamO
Would the Turkish aircraft have 'locked on' (excuse my incorrect use of terminology) for a period of time, leaving the Russian in no doubt they were in the crosshairs and then let a missile loose ?
It depends on the missile. If the missile were AMRAAM, the aircraft's fire control radar probably wouldn't have locked on, but continued in 'track-while-scan' mode, and the missile would probably not have locked on until after launch.